I have a sense of peace, despite the strong emotions that I am experiencing. Metropolitan-Emeritus Stefan Soroka welcomed me in the Philadelphia Archeparchy many times. He gave me prescient advice when I was beginning my pastoral service in Paris: people and pastoral works first, not buildings. Bishop Andriy Rabiy, energetic and active as Apostolic Administrator, has been ushering me home with care and competence. The other bishops of the metropolia have fraternally encouraged me in these days. I eagerly await the encounter with them and the archeparchy’s clergy, religious and faithful.

I will be leaving the Paris Eparchy with gratitude and joy but also with sadness: gratitude for all of the wonderful priests, religious and faithful in five countries; joy at the many graces we shared, including the increasing spiritual and pastoral maturity of the clergy, the unity of the faithful, and the authentic synodality that developed among us. Here we listened carefully to Pope Francis’ call and drank at the ecclesiological wellspring of the Christian East. In the past four years we held eight sessions of our Eparchial Council (Diocesan Synod), which became for all of us an effective instrument for fostering our unity, faith, and charity. It was not easy because of the distance and diversity. God led us to a life of mutual respect and love. Serving in France, Benelux, and Switzerland was not, for me, a position or a job. It was a life in communion with God and His people. One does not simply walk away from such experiences…

We lived in relationship. We lived humbly in challenging social and economic conditions. There is an ongoing war in Ukraine, which has continued for more than five years. Most of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic faithful in the Paris Eparchy are undocumented immigrants or refugees. Virtually all of us, me included, were struggling to learn one or more of the six official languages of these three kingdoms and two republics. France, the Benelux, and Switzerland are among the most secularized countries in the world. As we prayed together and worked to set and maintain the course on rough and unpredictable seas, we were together in sacrifice and service. Our eparchy became a modest but authentic and faith-filled corner of the Kingdom of God, which is already here and still yet to come.