Meeting with the Ukrainian Catholic Episcopate at lunch at the Apostolic Nunciature, Pope John Paul II commented on the flourishing number of vocations in Ukraine and emphasized the need for "first-rate educators and highly trained teachers, who can ensure a solid intellectual and spiritual foundation for the priests of tomorrow." He also encouraged the bishops to issue a comprehensive catechism in Ukrainian.
Praising the exemplary relations between the Greek Catholic Church and the Latin Catholic Church during the communist persecution, the Pope paid tribute to the bishops' predecessors for their fidelity among trials, marking out by name Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and Cardinal Joseph Slipyj.
25.06.2001 (10:34) // Religious Information Service of Ukraine
25. juni 2001