“I truly want us to feel God’s presence on our God-beloved Ukrainian land,” Bishop Maksym Ryabukha during his enthronement
During his enthronement as the second ever exarch of the Donetsk Exarchate of the UGCC, Bishop Maksym Ryabukha expressed gratitude to the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Head of the UGCC, his predecessor Bishop Stepan Meniok, the clergy of the Donetsk Exarchate, the faithful and the military.
“I feel like a child, despite now being the ruling bishop and Donetsk exarch. But today I would like to express my sincere gratitude to God, first of all, for bringing us here today and making us His children. I thank the whole Church of Christ in the person of our nuncio Visvaldas, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, our bishops, priests, sisters and brothers. I have always felt their support, their parental help,” said Bishop Maksym.
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He expressed special gratitude to his predecessor, Bishop Stepan Meniok, for his support, fatherly guidance and wise counsel: “During these two years of service as an auxiliary bishop in the Donetsk Exarchate, I have constantly been supported by Bishop Stepan Meniok. I hope to always cherish this and to continue the legacy of fatherly service and pastoral care he has established here.”
The bishop also thanked all the faithful of the Donetsk Exarchate, stressing that “many more people wanted to come, but the curfew restrictions and the war prevented many from coming.”
The new exarch also expressed his sincere gratitude to the Ukrainian military: “Whenever I meet our military at various positions, wherever the Lord allows me to visit, I see you as true angels of peace. I am here by virtue of you, and I could not be here without you.”
The bishop said that “I once shared with a member of the military that where our soldiers are absent, our priests cannot serve, as they are not permitted.”
Concluding his speech during the enthronement liturgy, the exarch of Donetsk asked people to pray for him: “Where two or three gather in the name of God, God is always among those people. I truly want us to feel God’s presence, both now and for eternity, here on our beloved Ukrainian land.”
“I dream that peace will come as soon as possible. Every evening, I eagerly await the President of Ukraine’s address, hoping for the moment when this becomes a reality, as His Beatitude Sviatoslav said: ‘From now on, we are heading directly for victory.’ Therefore, we are grateful to God!” Bishop Maksym Ryabukha summarized.
The UGCC Department for Information