Сhaplains of Prison Chaplaincy of UGCC of Eastern Europe Meet in Chelm

23-09-2008

In the city of Danylo, Chelm (Poland), on September 10 - 12 an international conference “The prison chaplaincy of the Greek-Catholic Church of Central-Eastern Europe” was conducted. The purpose of the conference was to become acquainted with methods and features of chaplaincy work in prisons of Central-Eastern Europe and to study possibilities for cooperation in the area of penitentiary questions among the state and Church. Fr. Yaroslav Storonyak reported to the Department of Information.

The conference was opened by a representative of the Ministry of Justice of Poland, Mr. Marian Cichosz. Among the participants of the meeting were the highest leaders of the Penitentiary Service of Poland: the general director, General Jacek Pomjankewicz, and Colonel Jerzy Nikolajev. Also taking active part in the conference were directors of prisons from the Lublin and Rjasziw districts.

Church speakers arrived from Ukraine (Deacon Constantin Pantelei, assistant for the penitentiary institutions of Ukraine, Fr. Vitalii Kotyk, CSSR, Fr. Oleksii Kuibida, Fr. Liubomyr Hryher), Slovakia (Fr. Dean Ivan Bliashko) and Poland (Mitr. Fr. Stefan Batruch, Ph.D.), representative of Metropolitan Jan (Martyniak), Proto-presbyter Bohdan Panchak, rector of the seminary of the UGCC in Poland, Fr. Pavlo Potochnyi, prison chaplain of the district of Rjasziw, and Deacon Peter Syvytckyi, Ph.D., and Fr. Yaroslav Storoniak, chaplains of the district of Lublin. Roman Catholic chaplains took active part in the conference: Fr. Myroslav Fliak and Fr. Marek Liubelski. Also present were representatives of the city of Chelm.

Every day began with a Divine Liturgy (on September 10 in the prison chapel, on September 11 and 12 in the Cathedral of the Most Holy Virgin Mary in Chelm). The session before lunch was dedicated to lectures, after lunch to discussion. Also, on the example of the prison in Chelm the participants were familiarized with the work of the Polish penitentiary service. The three-day exchange of experience and theoretical knowledge allowed the participants to develop practical methods of work in the field of prison ministry.

http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;24758/