Our pilgrimage “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18) in the Paris Eparchy should be seen in spiritual terms, not least because our material assets were extremely modest. We were actually destitute. The eparchial facilities were in disrepair, most of them actually closed. Our “glory” clearly could not be in large projects and initiatives. Life had to be simple. This was, in fact a grace. We focused on the basics: the Word of God, liturgy and prayer, fostering mutual trust by tending to each other’s wounds and encouraging lay men and women to take responsibility in the Church. Following the Holy Father’s lead, together we profoundly experienced a year of mercy—God’s towards us and mercy towards each other. We moved from the glory of one feast and sacrament to another, from one authentic encounter to the next. We learned to celebrate wholeheartedly, and to pray and sing together with the mystical symbolism and choreography of the liturgy. Our point of departure was one love—the love of Christ—to build another—our friendship, solidarity, and fruitful cooperation. Through sacrifice and losing ourselves we entered repeatedly into the Paschal Mystery, encountering the essence of life in Christ. We listened and spoke to each other from heart to heart. Because in the end that is where God resides and places His glory—in our hearts and souls, in our freedom, in our dignity, in our life-giving capacity. We also laughed—a lot—together, at ourselves, and with each other.

The Paris Eparchy did launch new projects. Are they sustainable, how will they develop?

Today, I humbly think of the many things that we were not able to accomplish and of what remains to be done. But it is indeed true that the Lord blessed many initiatives. The Eparchy opened new parishes and missions. At first there were 20, now there are 44. The number of our priests more than doubled, from 9 to 23. The Eparchy’s canonical structures and administration were created. The existing incorporating associations were reformed and brought into legal order. Laypersons were called to key positions of governance. The presbiteral and economic councils, six eparchial commissions, the communications service, and a mission to seafarers came into being and are working effectively. Generous donors from many countries responded to the initiatives. The Eparchy purchased a church that had been unused for services for two-hundred years and launched the Cultural Center of Anne de Kyiv, named after the eleventh-century Kyivan princess who became Queen of France. With the participation of some 100 clergy, outside theologians and consultants, and lay members of the eparchy, a five-year pastoral plan was elaborated. The eparchial team formulated a vision to revive our pilgrimage center in Lourdes. The abandonment of some projects was reversed; for example the Paul Kohut Youth Center in Alsace is being slowly revived.

The Eparchy sponsored a number of international academic conferences and published literature about the life of our Church in different languages. There were a good number of television programs and films about the Eparchy in French and Ukrainian aired in different countries. Finally, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, our laity managed what may be the first in-depth sociological survey of a discreet representation of the massive emigration entitled “Challenges of Contemporary Migration: The Ukrainian Community in Paris.” But the overriding “project” was fostering an atmosphere of mutual charity and a life of communion, ecclesiastical unity of clergy, religious, and faithful while trying to open ourselves to those outside of the Church.