Washington, D. C. A convention of Ukrainian Catholic patriarchal lay organizations took place in Washington, D. C. on December 20-29, 1974. The convention was hosted by the Graduate Studies Center of the Ukrainian Catholic University of Rome, Washington Branch. Delegates from various continents, representing their respective organizations, formed a world-wide federation and approved its by-laws. The name of this federation is “Ukrainian Patriarchal World Federation” (translation unofficial). Its purpose is to coordinate and further activities of its constituent members on behalf of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
The delegates felt that the persecution of Ukrainian faithful by the Soviet regime and the unwarranted intrusions of the Roman Curia into the internal affairs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church necessitate a strong, world-wide movement on the part of all Ukrainian people to preserve their spiritual, cultural, and national identity.
The delegates called on the Ukrainian Catholic hierarchy to support vigorously the leadership of His Beatitude Patriarch Josyf I Slipyj and pursue emphatically the struggle for the existence of the Particular (“Pomisna”) Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine and in the diaspora.
