Metropolitan Borys Gudziak Meets with Cardinal Gugerotti in Rome

“We sought to report on the activities and challenges of the Philadelphia Archeparchy and our Metropolia in the United States, as well as my role as chair of the Domestic Justice and Human Development Committee of the United States Bishops Conference, especially its mental health campaign and efforts against racism,” noted the Archbishop after the meeting.

The activities of the group of Eastern Catholic bishops in the U.S., currently headed by Bishop Bohdan Danylo of the St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in Parma, were also discussed. Archbishop Borys mentioned that the U.S. Eastern Catholic bishops have invited Cardinal Gugerotti to visit the U.S. in the spring, to which the Cardinal responded that he plans to accept.

“We discussed plans to create a joint Catholic Charities organization for our four eparchies and begin a process to consolidate our ministries. We hope to reactivate various apostolates, not only within individual eparchies but as a joint effort across our metropolia. The Cardinal was particularly interested in this, given the recent wave of new immigrants who may not settle in traditional parish areas,” said Metropolitan Borys.

Broader themes, such as responses to the ongoing war in Ukraine, were also addressed. Cardinal Gugerotti, who served as Papal Nuncio to Ukraine from 2015 to 2020, headed the Papal humanitarian mission for those affected by Russian aggression "Pope for Ukraine" before the conflict escalated into a full-scale war in 2022.