1984: A LOOK BACK: News in Ukrainian Churches (12/30/84)

1984: A LOOK BACK

News in Ukrainian Churches

It was a year of sorrow for both the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches because of the passing of two revered churchmen.

Patriarch Josyf Slipyj of the Ukrainian Catholic Church died on September 7 at the age of 92. The prelate had resided in Rome for the last 21 years after his release from the Soviet Union, where he had been imprisoned for 18 years for refusing to betray the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Holy See. His release from Soviet imprisonment had been secured through the intervention of President John F. Kennedy and Pope John XXIII.

Patriarch Josyf had been secretly consecrated an archbishop by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky of Lviv, and he succeeded the metropolitan after his death. He was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1965.

Seeing the establishment of a patriarchate for the Ukrainian Catholic Church as the only way to ensure the Church's survival, he began urging the Vatican to recognize a patriarchate and began to use the title of patriarch.

Though the Vatican never did recognize the patriarchate, most Ukrainian Catholics considered Cardinal Slipyj their patriarch and referred to him as such.

Upon Patriarch Josyf's death, a 40-day period of mourning was declared by the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States. It was especially interesting to note that the hierarchs' Ukrainian-language statement referred to the patriarch as "Major Archbishop Josyf" and mentioned that he had struggled for a patriarchate for the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The hierarchs' corresponding English-language statement made no reference whatsoever to a patriarch or a patriarchate.

Leadership of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was assumed by Archbishop Myroslav Lubachivsky, who had earlier been named coadjutor with the right of succession to the head of the Church. Though many faithful and clergy began to call the archbishop patriarch, they wondered about the fate of the Ukrainian patriarchate.

The funeral for Patriarch Josyf I was held September 13 as hundreds of mourners from all around the world paid their last respects. The body was interred in the crypt of St. Sophia Sobor. On September 8, on the eve of his trip to Canada, Pope John Paul II prayed for the repose of the primate's soul as the body lay in state in St. Sophia Sobor.

One of the highlights of the pontiff's 12-day tour of Canada was his September 16 stopover at Winnipeg's Ss. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, where he was greeted by 4,000 faithful outside the church.

In his 1,500-word speech delivered in Ukrainian inside the cathedral, the pope praised Ukrainian Christians for what he called "heroism" in keeping their faith in Communist-occupied Ukraine. "In you I embrace in the charity of Christ all the people of your homeland, together with their history, culture and the heroism with which they lived their faith," he said.

He also noted that the Ukrainian Catholic Church, a Byzantine rite Church, could serve as a bridge to the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, saying that Ukrainian Catholics were in a position to help "bring about the reconciliation between Eastern and Western Christians."

Pope John Paul II referred also to the death of Cardinal Slipyj, calling him a man "who had suffered hardships not unlike those of Christ at Golgotha."

After his address to the 1,200 faithful inside the cathedral, the pope blessed the statue of St. Volodymyr the Great, the work of renowned sculptor Leo Mol, that will mark the millennium of Ukrainian Christianity in 1988.

Meanwhile, during the pope's visit to Canada and 10 days after the death of Patriarch Josyf, a letter from the Vatican's Secretariat for the Sacred Congregation for Eastern Churches was sent to at least three Ukrainian Catholic bishops, including Bishop Isidore Borecky of the Toronto Eparchy, according to Catholic New Times, a biweekly newspaper published in Toronto.

The first sign that all was not OK as regards the Vatican's relationship with the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which enjoys certain rights as a Byzantine rite Church within the Roman Catholic Church, was a brief item published in the November 5 "Periscope" section of Newsweek.

The newsmagazine reported that "a still-secret instruction from the Vatican" forbade Ukrainian Catholics from calling the head of their Church a patriarch and ordered the suspension of married priests. Newsweek wrote: "Ukrainian Catholics the world over might suspect that Pope John Paul II wants their Church to wither away as a distinct entity within the Catholic fold."

Reacting to the Newsweek report, 12 Ukrainian Catholic bishops from around the world, who met in Philadelphia on November 19-20, denied knowledge of any secret instructions from the Vatican and said that the news item was but another attempt to cause dissent among the faithful of their Particular ("Pomisna") Church.

But rumors of the secret letter refused to be squelched.

Catholic New Times reported on December 9 that, although the hierarchs denied knowledge of a secret letter, the newspaper had learned "from reliable sources close to the Ukrainian Church" that a "letter of censure" had in fact been sent. The newspaper published an English-language translation of the September 17 Italian-language letter received by Bishop Borecky.

The letter called attention to three "shortcomings and abuses that have been happening in the Ukrainian eparchy for quite some time and are greatly preoccupying the Holy See." It demanded a list of all "illicitly" ordained priests who were previously suspended and nonetheless continue to carry out their pastoral ministries, underlined the limits of the Ukrainian patriarchate and referred to dangerous "pseudo-patriotism" and a "lack of discipline" among the clergy of the eparchy.

Catholic New Times reported that the illegally ordained priests in question are three married men ordained in Toronto in 1975 by Auxiliary Bishop Michael Rusnack.

News of the letter received by the Toronto Eparchy was carried also by The Globe and Mail on December 13.

The letter was signed by Cardinal Wladyslaw Rubin, prefect, and Archbishop Myroslav Marusyn, secretary, of the Secretariat for the Sacred Congregation for Eastern Churches.

Catholic New Times pointed out in its story that many Ukrainian Catholics view the Vatican's attempts at minimizing Ukrainian Catholic Church authority as means to maintain dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church.

There were some positive developments, too, on the Ukrainian Catholic Church scene.

In early October, the Ukrainian Catholic hierarchs of the United States announced a campaign aimed at raising $500,000 for the printing of 1 million prayer books, catechisms and bibles for Ukrainian Catholics in Poland.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church, the first Greek Catholic rite parish in America, celebrated its 100th anniversary. The parish celebrated its centennial by blessing a new church that replaced the one destroyed by fire in 1980.

There was good news about Ukrainian Catholic seminaries, as well.

On September 23, the Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Ottawa was blessed and officially opened. The seminary had been founded three years earlier with eight seminarians and was located in a historic mansion on the banks of the Rideau Canal. As the 1984-85 academic year began at the seminary's new quarters, there were 30 seminarians.

The St. Basil College Seminary Endowment Fund exceeded $1 million as of November 30. The goal of the fund is $1.5 million for a permanent trust fund that would support the seminary located in Stamford, Conn. Thanks to the generosity of contributors throughout the country, the fund was well on its way.

Another fund-raising drive was initiated by Manor Junior College, a two-year liberal arts college in suburban Philadelphia run by the Sisters of St. Basil the great. A Capital Campaign aimed at gathering $2 million for the construction of a new student center, improvement of the college grounds and buildings, and establishment of a trust fund, was announced on December 2 at a special reception.

1984 also saw the installation of two new Ukrainian Catholic bishops. After being consecrated a bishop on February 27, Bishop Basil Filevich was installed on March 4 as the new eparch of the Saskatoon Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy. The position had been vacant since the death in October 1982 of Bishop Andrew Roborecki. Bishop Robert Moskal was installed on February 29 as the first eparch of the recently created Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio.

For the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the year was relatively quiet. Faithful mourned the passing on August 5 of Archbishop Mark Hundiak, who had been pastor of St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carteret, N.J., since 1932. Archbishop Mark died at the age of 89 following a lengthy illness. He had been active in Church and community affairs. He was elected a bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. in 1970, and four years later was elevated to the rank of archbishop and named vicar to Metropolitan Mstyslav, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church held two sobors during 1984. The Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox Church Sobor was held in London on August 17-19 with representatives of the Church from around the world in attendance. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. held its own sobor on October 11-14. Both conclaves were chaired by Metropolitan Mstyslav.