Healthcare Workers Conclude 13th All-Ukrainian Pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia

On July 25, the 13th All-Ukrainian Pilgrimage of Medical Workers took place at the Marian Spiritual Center “Zarvanytsia.” The pilgrimage, held in conjunction with the professional holiday of healthcare workers, brought together representatives of the medical community from seven regions of Ukraine, clergy, medical chaplains, and government officials to pray together for medical workers, the sick, the wounded, and the defenders of Ukraine.

This was reported by the press office of the Ternopil-Zboriv Archeparchy.

The pilgrimage was organized by the Patriarchal Commission on Pastoral Health Care of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Commission on Family and Lay Affairs of the Ternopil-Zboriv Archeparchy.

The central event of the gathering was the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, presided over by Archbishop and Metropolitan Teodor Martynuk of Ternopil-Zboriv. Concelebrating with him were Bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh, Exarch for Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Germany and Scandinavia; Bishop Andriy Khimyak, Auxiliary Bishop of the Kyiv Archeparchy; Bishop Volodymyr Firman, Auxiliary Bishop of Ternopil-Zboriv; Bishop Emeritus Vasyl Semenyuk, as well as numerous members of the clergy.

During the service, those in attendance prayed for Ukraine, its defenders, the wounded, all the sick, as well as for doctors, nurses, and their families—especially those who are carrying out their ministry in wartime, risking their own lives.

In his homily, Bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh emphasized the need to protect human life from conception until natural death and thanked the medical professionals for their selfless service. “Through your hands, dear healthcare workers, the Lord applies the balm of God’s mercy to the wounds of the Ukrainian people,” the bishop noted.

Sister Yustyna Holubets, S. S. M. I., Chair of the Patriarchal Commission on Pastoral Health Care of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, expressed her gratitude to the participants. She emphasized the importance of cooperation between the medical community and the Church, “which, like a good mother, wants to be there for everyone and embrace each person.”

Medical chaplains and the heads of eparchial commissions on pastoral health care took part in the pilgrimage. The pilgrimage also brought together directors of healthcare facilities, medical professionals from the Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Volyn, Rivne, and Chernivtsi regions, and representatives of medical colleges and universities.