Uniates are alarmed to see their monasteries empty

Sinkel for Monastic Affairs of the Lviv Archdiocese of the UGCC Justin Boyko. Photo: velychlviv.com

The number of inhabitants is significantly shrinking in the monasteries of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: there are fewer and fewer people wishing to enter the monasteries, with many monks returning to lay life. Hieromonk Justin Boyko, the Sinkel for Monastic Affairs of the Lviv Archdiocese of the UGCC, spoke about this in an interview with velychlviv.com.

“We have a trend towards fewer vocations—many monasteries that were once full are becoming empty today or are being handed over to dioceses and closing,” Sinkel said. “While there were a lot of vocations in the 1990s, we did not know what to do with them and how to arrange them, at present there are very few vocations in monasteries. For example, this year only some monasteries have two or three vocations, and it is not known whether they will endure it altogether. However, there have been no vocations in other monasteriesfor 10 years. From a human point of view, the picture looks rather deplorable.”

Boyko said that now more monks leave the monasteries of the UGCC every year than die: “Many people leave the monasteries. <...> Those who have 15–20 years of monastic life quit it. In the monastery, three or four people die a year, and five with eternal vows come out. Those monks with eternal vows, who have up to 20 years in monkhood, are professionals. This is a big loss, as for me, this is a disaster.”

The representative of the UGCC also noted that Uniate monasticism has grown old.

“If earlier the average age of a monk was 22 years old – average! - today the average age of the monks of the Lviv Archdiocese is 47 years old, almost 50. And this is thanks to several young monastic congregations. <...> When it comes to women's communities, most of them have a 50+ trend,” said the hieromonk.

He also acknowledged that the trend towards a decrease in the number of monastics is characteristic of the entire Catholic Church.

“While there were 30,000 Jesuit fathers in the world a few years ago, their number has decreased by 15,000 in 10 years,” Sinkel said.

As the UOJ wrote, the head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, demanded that the Pochaiv Lavra be “returned” to the Uniates.

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