The ceremony took place on Saturday 8 June in the Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Uzhgorod, in the western part of the country. Don Andolfatto: it is a great joy in this time of war to see the Church rejuvenating
Debora Donnini – Vatican City
There is no fighting in Uzhgorod, no bombs rain from the sky, but fear and anguish are still felt every day. Many have taken refuge here by fleeing from other areas of Ukraine, many, from 25 to 60 years old, are called to the front. He tells it in the interview Don Francesco Andolfattorector of the local missionary Eparchial Seminary Redemptoris Mater.
Listen to the interview with Don Andolfatto
It is precisely in this wounded reality that a space of joy opens up represented by these ordinations, which took place a week ago in the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The three new priests are: Andrii Stebivka of Uzhgorod, Viktor Bodnar of Vinnitsa and João Miguel Perozzi Jorge of Brazil. Instead, Vitalii Fedynyshynets from Uzhgorod and Julio Rafael Garcia Maldonado originally from Honduras were ordained deacons.
Orders
Sign of hope in the war
“For us – underlines Don Andolfatto – these ordinations were a joy because these young people are among the first who began the seminary 11 years ago, in 2013. A great joy in this time of war to see that the Church moves forward, he continues , rejuvenates. And it is a sign of hope to send young people on a pastoral mission and to be here, among the people, amidst the great tension that is felt due to the war”.
For the moment, he explains, the new priests will remain in the parish, in the diocese of Mukačevo for which they were ordained, but in 2-3 years or even more, they will certainly go on mission because “our Seminary prepares for evangelization throughout the world”. These are boys of different geographical origins, all ordained according to the Byzantine rite and incardinated in the Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Mukačevo, which includes the region of Transcarpathia of which Uzhhorod is the capital.
Orders
The history of the Seminary
Don Andolfatto also focuses on the history of this Seminary, erected in 2013 by the then bishop Milan Šašik. The story starts in 2003, when he was ordained bishop and asked for the catecheses of the Neocatechumenal Way. The first communities were therefore formed and then the Seminary was built Redemptoris Mater to give impetus to the new evangelization. Therefore “this reality was born right from the heart of the pastor, Milan Šašik”, highlights with gratitude the rector who has been here since 2015. “The specificity of the seminars Redemptoris Mater – remember – is that formation in the faith is carried out through participation in the Neocatechumenal Way. All the candidates come from the Neocatechumenal communities and then, while they are being trained in the Seminary, they participate in the life of a local Neocatechumenal community and this is a great help.”
“No one chooses where to go to seminary. I was trained in the seminary in Warsaw. The first form of missionary spirit consists precisely in being available to go anywhere,” he says, based on his own experience of him. “The mission at this moment in Uzhgorod – he remarks – consists in the presence of a Church that does not abandon people but brings the Word of God, a word of reconciliation, of forgiveness, of the presence of the Lord. It is very important to have stayed here: many stayed because we stayed too.
The blessing of the first stone of the new building
Don Andolfatto’s thoughts also go back to 13 September last year when, at the end of the general audience, the Pope blessed the first stone of the new construction of the Seminary. “It was a wonderful moment – he recalls – also because we managed to bring all the kids from the three Seminars Redemptoris Mater of Ukraine. The bishop of Mukačevo and the apostolic administrator were present. This stone is the sign of the Pope’s blessing for this construction. We have now finished the reinforced concrete part of the building that will host the Seminary in Uzhgorod in the future”. The rector underlines, therefore, how it was a great joy to see that this work of evangelization was blessed by Pope Francis. “The Pope – he concludes – he told us that whoever builds in times of war is a builder of peace and hope”.
