Benedict XVI

                                                                                                                                                   Supreme Pontiff

                                                                                                                                                 Città del Vaticano

                 Announcement of establishment and proclamation

                           of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

Your Holiness,

in an extraordinary assembly of 5 April 2011, the Bishops’ Synod of the Ukrainian orthodox Greek-Catholic Church considered the critical situation in the Catholic Church and violation of the saving faith. The tragedy is that many Catholic believers as well as the hierarchy accept a new teaching and a different spirit which is contrary to the fundamental truths of the Gospel and the Apostolic Tradition.

The response of the Synod to this catastrophic state was establishment and proclamation of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate. Its purpose is to give patronage to all believers who desire to preserve the sacred deposit of the Catholic faith, regardless of nationality or belonging to any of the Catholic Churches or traditions.

The Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate is in true communion with You in the apostolic and catholic faith free from all heresies and from the spirit of apostasy. Together with You – Peter – we condemn all ancient as well as modern heresies, particularly those connected with the current historical-critical method.

We would like to remind here that in the first millennium unity between Rome and the Eastern Churches (patriarchates) consisted in unity of the orthodox doctrine. The patriarchates had full autonomy and Rome did not interfere in their interior and liturgical life.

The first Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate is Archbishop Elijah Anthony Dohnal OSBMr.

         Glory to Jesus Christ!

                     + Methodius Spirik OSBMr

        Secretary of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

                     + Timothy Sojka OSBMr

        Secretary of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

                                                                                                                                                Lvov, 7 April 2011

                                                                                                                                                 The Annunciation

Attachment: Decree of establishment of the BCP

Copies to:

a) Catholic Patriarchates

Coptic

Syrian

Maronite

Chaldean

Melchite

Armenian

Jerusalem

b) Orthodox Patriarchates

Jerusalem

Antiochian

Constantinople

Moscow

Bulgarian

Romanian

Georgian

Serbian

c) Head of the Ethiopian Church

Head of the Armenian Church

Head of the Greek Orthodox Church