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.
Our hopes and spiritual aspirations seemed fantastic. But a faith journey is believing that God wants us to live in His Kingdom. Much was accomplished because together we believed in God’s presence among us.
The sustainability of the eparchial projects is predicated on this faith. Seven years ago, I went through a departure from a rather ambitious spiritual endeavor when I left the position of rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv to come to Paris. Some believed that this might imperil aspects of UCU’s life. In fact, the opposite happened: once I became bishop in Paris, the university developed exponentially. I hope that will also happen in the Paris Eparchy (laughs).
The most important thing is to continue to foster a spirit of responsibility, mutual trust, and transparency in spiritual life, Church governance, and stewardship. It is important to speak clearly in truth but to do so gently, with mercy. In an eparchy that stretches almost 2000 kilometers (over 1,200 miles) from north to south and from east to west, with small, dispersed missions, spiritual unity is essential. We came together as often as we could: the clergy and lay leaders from the five countries met almost once a month for three days in a monastery. In addition, as I mentioned before, we held eight eparchial councils (diocesan synods) over the last four years. These councils ceased being special occasions and became a regular forum for decision-making and governance—priests, religious, and lay women and men including the youth, jointly discerned God’s will and shared responsibility with the bishop. I trust that this practice, now embedded in the corporate culture of the Paris Eparchy, will not be lost easily. I also hope that synodality will be the way of life of the Church in the United States and globally. This modality has been repeatedly encouraged by the pope.