Shevchuk: Panagia from Bartholomew is admitting episcopal dignity of UGCC
The UGCC leader considers the presented panagia signed by the Patriarch of Constantinople as a symbolic sign of the attention of the mother church to her daughter.
Sviatoslav Shevchuk, leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, called the gift received from the hands of Patriarch Bartholomew a sign of recognition of the episcopal dignity of the entire UGCC episcopate.
“For me, this is a symbolic sign that the mother church is attentive to her daughter, while we, as a daughter church, are respectful of our mother church.
Panagia is a sign of episcopal dignity. To receive a panagia from the hands of the patriarch is a sign of recognition of episcopal dignity not only for me, but also for the episcopate of our church,” the press service of the UGCC quotes Sviatoslav Shevchuk’s words addressed to the head of Phanar.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that at a meeting with the AUCCRO on August 23, Patriarch Bartholomew presented the head of the UGCC with a signed panagia.