From February 1 to February 3, 2023, with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, the First Meeting of the Western European clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was held in the suburbs of Milan under the chairmanship of Bishop Veniamin of the Boyars, Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolia. This was reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC with reference to the DECR website.

The meeting was attended by more than 30 clergy of the UOC who serve in Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, France and Switzerland. The event was also attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich.

At the beginning of the meeting, Bishop Veniamin read out the Word of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine to the Ukrainian clergy abroad.

In particular, in his speech, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church noted the importance of the mission that Ukrainian clergy perform abroad, and stressed the need to create foreign parishes not only as a place for prayer and worship, but also as a space for communication, “where a person finds a piece of the Motherland and thus feels joy and comfort in the nostalgia for home that every migrant experiences.” His Beatitude expressed his joy at the dynamic development of the Ukrainian Orthodox communities in the Diaspora “at a time when churches inside the country are being seized from us,” and noted that “a Christian is called to create, not to destroy; to build, and not to seize what was built by someone else’s labor; to invite to the temple, not to expel from it.

During the meeting, the priests discussed a number of pastoral issues and challenges they face in their ministry abroad. Among other things, issues of catechesis, the creation of various educational projects, spiritual support and support for families, youth and children in the parish were considered.

The priests also made a pilgrimage to the shrines of Milan and venerated the relics of St. Ambrose of Milan, Martyr Victor and Martyr Natalia.