You're reading: President congratulates Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on election of new head

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has congratulated the Electoral Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) on the election of Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk as the new head of the church.

Yanukovych wished peace to all Greek Catholics and stressed the need for understanding among representatives of all faiths in Ukraine, the presidential press service said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church hasn’t officially announced the name of its new head.

A source close to the church told Interfax-Ukraine Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk had been elected head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. According to the source, a simple majority of participants of the UGCC electoral synod voted for this candidate in Lviv on March 24.

Bishop Sviatoslav is currently the apostolic administrator of the eparchy of Santa María del Patrocinio (Protection of The Holy Mary) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Shevchuk was born on May 5, 1970 in the city of Stry, Lviv region. He studied in Argentina and Lviv Theological Seminary of the UGCC, where he then worked as deputy rector. He was also a private secretary to the previous head of the UGCC, Cardinal Liubomyr Husar.

On Thursday, members of the UGCC electoral synod decided to choose the church head by a simple majority vote, since the first three days of the synod did not bring any result, as none of the candidates was able to get two thirds of the vote.

A bishop elected head of the UGCC has to gain confirmation from the Vatican. Shevchuk will enter office after his enthronement, which is scheduled for March 27 in Kyiv, according to the Web site of the UGCC.

In February 2011, the Vatican officially announced it had accepted the resignation of then head of the UGCC Liubomyr Huzar.