“All of us, shepherds of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Europe, are comforted by the love of the Lord in our ecclesial service, by the Divine Grace that heals our weaknesses, and by the Lord’s love for his Church that drives us to proclaim his Gospel”. This is according to a statement released at the end of the annual meeting of the Eastern Catholic Bishops of Europe, which took place from 26 to 29 October in London. “We are convinced of the central and fundamental necessity of the proclamation of Christ by means of a catechesis and a mystagogy that arise from the celebration of the Divine Liturgy as a place of confession and celebration of our faith”, the statement goes on to say. “A mystagogy that flows from the Gospel, from the texts of the liturgy, and from the iconography, to lead our faithful to the contemplation of the mystery of Christ, the Word of God incarnate, through the Holy Spirit and the Holy Virgin Mary”. In these days, the Eastern Catholic Bishops of Europe have experienced the “richness of catholicity manifested through the various Christian traditions that for nearly two millennia have been shaping the Christian face of Europe”: “This fact has made us aware of the ever-new call to witness the Gospel of mercy, love, and reconciliation to today’s world, marked by suffering, poverty, injustice, and armed conflicts that afflict the face of so many of our Churches and our peoples”. “We particularly invoke the gift of peace and reconciliation for the Ukrainian people, who have been overwhelmed for too long by violence and war, and we also recalled the persecution and suffering of our Christian brothers in the Middle East”. In 2018, the meeting will take place from 14 to 17 June in the Eparchy of Lungro of the Italo-Albanians in Italy, at the invitation of Msgr. Donato Oliverio. The meeting ended yesterday with the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the cathedral church of the Holy Family in London, presided over by Archbishop Cyril Vasil’, secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.