Once again: the Church confirms it's catholic

The new archbishop adjusts his bishop's mitre.

Yep. Just as I suspected. The Church is definitely catholic. A couple of weeks ago, we noted here that the Maronite Catholic Church (one of the so-called Eastern Catholic Churches) elected a new leader, or patriarch. These past few days have seen yet another leader elected to an Eastern Catholic Church. This time, it is the Ukrainian Catholic Church which, with over 6 million members, is the largest eastern Church in union with the pope. Last Friday, the Ukrainian Catholic Church recently elected their newest leader, Sviatoslav Shevchuk who is only 40 years old (!) - the third-youngest Catholic bishop in the world. His election was confirmed by Pope Benedict and he was installed as Major-Archbishop in a special ceremony on Sunday in Kiev, Ukraine.

Why does this matter to us here in our little ol' Mississippi diocese? Well, it's always important to remember that the Church is indeed catholic (universal). She is much bigger than what we see around us. In fact, she is staggeringly large. And in God's good providence, she is also much more diverse than we sometimes remember. If you want confirmation of that fact, take a look at this video of the new archbishop's installation liturgy in Kiev on Sunday. Beside the obvious difference in language, take note of other differences in the vestments and the liturgy: the priests and bishop's vestments, the difference in the bishops' mitres, among other differences. Blessed be God for the beauty and breadth of his Church!


Інтронізація новообраного Глави УГКЦ from Yuriy Bihanskyy on Vimeo.