Our Good Shepherds
From September 12-26, LCI hosted 15 bishops and senior curial staff from Central and Eastern Europe at the Kartause for a special intensive English course.This course, sponsored by the USCCB’s Sub-committee for Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, included not only English lessons in the classroom, but also activities and events outside the classroom – all in English, of course – such as international dinners, sing-along’s, and a walking pilgrimage to Mariazell.
The Kartause community had the opportunity to meet these new students, good shepherds of the Church, and to hear firsthand about the situation of the Church in their home countries. Bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh, Secretary of the Ukrainian Catholic Synod of Bishops, gave a presentation on the Church’s experience of the political situation in Ukraine, followed by an invitation to send messages of good wishes and prayers to soldiers on the frontline.
Overall, everyone was impressed by these humble, good-natured, and persevering part-time students, who had taken two weeks out of their busy schedules to learn English, an ever pressing need for re-building their churches and dioceses. They, too, were deeply touched by their experience at the Kartause, and have expressed their wish to come back next year!