1980: an overview: Church (12/28/80)

1980: an overview

Church

This year was marked by two major events in the life of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Philadelphia Metropolitan Myroslav I. Lubachivsky was named coadjutor with right of succession to Cardinal Josyf Slipyj on March 27 at the first synod of Ukrainian Catholic bishops to have been convened by a pope.

The First Regular Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, convened and headed by Patriarch Josyf Slipyj on November 25, with the approval of Pope John Paul II, constituted a cornerstone for the self-regulation of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in accordance with the traditions of Eastern Churches and the resolutions of the second Vatican Council.

Apart from nominating candidates to episcopal positions in the Philadelphia and Chicago eparchies and other auxiliary episcopal posts (the candidates' names were submitted to Pope John Paul II for the final selection),the synod issued a document denying the legitimacy of the 1946 Lviv Synod. The 1946 synod, in effect, liquidated the Ukrainian Catholic Church and subordinated the faithful in Ukraine to the Russian Orthodox Church.

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