Standing in front of a banner reading, “Welcome, Metropolitan Borys” in both English and Ukrainian, featuring the Ukrainian colors of blue and gold, Bishop Andriy Rabiy offered a warm welcome to Archbishop Borys, as he was presented with the traditional greeting of bread and salt and a bouquet of sunflowers.
After the welcome, Archbishop Borys met with the staff in the Chancery Conference room for an informal get-together. During this time, he briefly shared his goals for the archeparchy and also asked the staff members for their prayers and to express what their expectations were of him: “What do you need of your new archbishop? What type of archbishop do you want?”
Some of his thoughts included how he wanted to lead the archeparchy as a spiritual brother, father, and shepherd, who would inspire the presbyterate, the religious and the laity, the entire archeparchy, to grow in their relationship to Christ. For the church, for the world, in this age, we need to become a holy and spiritual presence to inspire all to live a life of virtue as we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and do His will in the world.
He emphasized: “I want to be a good listener and I ask you to be my teachers.”
Archbishop Bishop Borys reflected on two qualities his mother sought to impress upon him and instill in him— kindness and gentleness—character traits which he hopes can be shared in his relationships with the clergy, religious, and laity.
The new spiritual shepherd of the Philadelphia Archeparchy, a native of Syracuse, New York was named to this hierarchical position by Pope Francis on Monday, February 18, 2019. At the time of his appointment he was the Eparch of St. Volodymyr the Great Eparchy of Paris serving France, Benelux, and Switzerland.
He will be formally enthroned Tuesday, June 4, 2019 in the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception here in Philadelphia.
Auxiliary Bishop Andriy Rabiy has been serving as apostolic administrator of the archeparchy since his appointment by Pope Francis after the Holy Father accepted the resignation for health reasons of Metropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka on Monday, April 16, 2018.