THE REDEMPTORIS MATER OF UZHGOROD
The Seminar "Redemptoris Mater" in Uzhgorod was founded in 2013 by the will of the pastor of the Eparchy of Mukacevo - Mgr. Milan Šašik (+ 14.07.2020), in response to the urgent need to evangelize, not only of his Eparchy but of the whole Church.
In November 2006 the team responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way in Ukraine (then formed by Marian Maciejewski, Fr. Rajmund Pupkowski, Maria Trafna, and Moises Marin Perez) were in Uzhgorod to complete the catechesis that will lead to the formation of two communities at the cathedral of Uzhgorod. Through them, the bishop addressed the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way asking for help to erect an international eparchial missionary seminary, for the Byzantine rite. The time is not yet propitious and you have to wait.
The seminary was erected on 21 September 2013 in Porto San Giorgio. This date is very significant for us: that same day he returned to the house of Our Father, Marian Maciejewski, the first itinerant catechist who opened the Neocatechumenal Way in Ukraine and various other Eastern European countries. The seminary turns out to be the hundredth in temporal order to have been erected.
A few days later the first nucleus of students arrives in the capital of Transcarpathia, formed by 6 seminarians who begin to learn the Ukrainian language and to study at the theological academy. The first two years, the boys lived two by two guests of local families who make their homes available, guided by the assistance and proximity of the local Capuchin fathers.
In September 2015 the rector was appointed, Fr. Francesco Andolfatto, Italian clergy of the Archdiocese of Warsaw. With his arrival, the common life of seminarians at the Bishop’s Residence began. At the end of this first year, the minor orders of reader, cantor, and acolyte in the Byzantine rite are conferred on the first four seminarians.
In October 2016, the subdiaconate was conferred to the two older seminarians, who a month later received diaconal ordination from the Bishop.
In October 2019, Michal, one of the first two priests, returned to the seminary in aid of formation as vice-rector.
In addition to formators and seminarians, the community is enriched by a couple and two sisters on mission who help us in our daily lives, from the kitchen to the laundry, from the cleaning of the environment in which we live up to small maintenance jobs. They also share with us all moments of community prayer and meals, thus forming a single body that walks together.
The eparchial pilgrimage to Rome, held in December 2019, was unforgettable to celebrate the 30 years of the restoration of the Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine after the Soviet persecutions.
The experience of this journey of faith culminated in the meeting with the Holy Father Pope Francis and with a Mass of thanksgiving in St. Peter’s Basilica. Besides our seminary, the formators and seminarians of the eparchial seminary "Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs" were also present at the meeting of Uzhgorod, many priests and about a thousand faithful specially arrived from Transcarpathia to say thank you to God for the gift of freedom and the Church.
On 10 and 11 June 2017 they will remain forever in the memory of the seminary as two days of great celebration and joy: the ordination of the two first priests trained in the seminary and subsequently the blessing of the land and the cornerstone of the new building that will rise just outside the city, in the village Tsyhanivtsi. The two events are attended by Mons. Milan Šašik, Bishop of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Auxiliary Bishop Nil, Cardinal Mons. Kazimierz Nycz and many guests from all over Ukraine, Poland, and Italy.
Gradually, the group of seminarians is growing. The fundamental stages that mark the path in the life of the seminary are the visits of the pastoral council, composed of the team responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way in Ukraine.
During these visits, we listen to the experiences of the newcomers and invite the young people who have already been in the seminary for a few years to analyze the period spent and their lives in the light of the faith and the signs of vocation that the Lord gives. Then they are admitted to the first ministries, minor orders and diaconal, and presbyteral ordinations.