Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Gaborij Damyan has been serving in our country for 11 years. With the arrival of those fleeing the war, the number of parishioners in Budapest increased many times, the number of children attending Sunday school; Ukrainian believers demand liturgies and pastoral care in several rural towns. The Magyar Kurír asked the pastor about the past and present of the Ukrainian community here.
Greek Catholic pastor Gáborij Damjan (Дам'ян Габорій) studied theology, journalism and mass communication in Poland, completed his doctorate here, and then returned home to Ukraine. He has been pastoring Ukrainians living in Hungary for eleven years.
"I visited Hungary once a month from Kiev for five years. I have been living in Budapest with my family since 2016.
Since there is no Ukrainian church in Hungary, one of Budapest's downtown Roman Catholic churches, the Szent Mihály Church, is used by the Ukrainian Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God. "We sincerely thank the Hungarian Greek and Roman Catholic bishops for opening their churches to the Ukrainians, as well as the Hungarian government for helping to implement the pastoral work. We hope to start building our church in the near future, because it is very important for Ukrainians.
We are extremely grateful to all Hungarian people - they are very supportive and helpful to the Ukrainians. It is important to have a good relationship between our peoples, because that is the only way everyone can feel at home in another country.
Source and full article and featured image: vasarnap.hu
