FACES AND PLACES: Christian social ethics in Ukraine (11/23/97)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Christian social ethics in Ukraine

At a time when Ukraine appears to be firmly stuck in the morass of moral decay, we need to remember that it wasn't always that way. Prior to the debauchery of Soviet rule, there were moral giants who walked the land striving - often against impossible odds - to both preach and live a life predicated on Christian love and principles.

Such a giant was Andrey Sheptytsky. His thoughts and deeds have recently been published in a superbly documented monograph by Andrii Krawchuk titled "Christian Social Ethics in Ukraine: The Legacy of Andrei Sheptytsky." Published by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies in Edmonton and the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies in Ottawa, the book is a significant contribution to the growing volume of scholarly publications on Sheptytsky.

During the period 1989-1914, writes Dr. Krawchuk, Metropolitan Sheptytsky's social thought and teaching were focused within four areas: "the social action of the Church, in which he affirmed spiritual values in contradistinction to the materialistic approach of socialism; the political participation of priests, where he emphasized the primacy of priestly ministry; Church-state relations, in which he tried to balance fundamental loyalty with the competing concern for the protection of Christian values and the rights of the Church in society; and the Christian understanding of patriotism."

Arrested by the tsarist Russians during World War I, Metropolitan Sheptytsky was released following the revolution and allowed to return to Galicia. Ukraine's declaration of independence was the result of divine will, the metropolitan believed, and he became a staunch advocate of political unification for all Ukrainian lands. Between 1914 and 1923 the main focus of the metropolitan was on Church unity, the restoration of clerical cadres, and the economic and political future of Galicia. Supporting national self-determination, he called "for a higher caliber of Ukrainian Catholic priests: patriotic and dedicated to nation-building.

The interwar years were difficult for the metropolitan, who had to contend with aggressive Polonization from Warsaw, militant Ukrainian nationalism and Soviet Ukrainian communism. Protesting Warsaw's blatant de-Ukrainization efforts in which even the term "Ukrainian" was suppressed, the metropolitan earned the ire of the Polish government. Following a trip abroad, he was detained for almost two months for his alleged anti-Polish statements. In a pastoral letter, "in defense of our persecuted brothers," he condemned the Polish government for its confiscation of Ukrainian Orthodox churches in the Kholm region. Disturbed by the anti-Christian violence of an ostensibly Catholic people, the metropolitan viewed the attacks as religious persecution and destructive of "part of the Universal Church and of a people who belong to that Church." His letter was quickly confiscated by Polish authorities.

Although totally supportive of the Ukrainian national revival, Metropolitan Sheptytsky had little sympathy for the ideology of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). The metropolitan was a Ukrainian Christian national patriot opposed to nationalist extremism. Christian patriotism for him was "rooted in an authentically Christian ethic rather than in narrow nationalism." Especially onerous was the OUN "Decalogue," which called upon Ukrainians "to regard the enemies of [their] nation with hate and perfidy" and to "aspire to expand the strength, riches and size of the Ukrainian state even by means of enslaving foreigners." Such views were repugnant because they were anti-Christian. When OUN terrorism killed a leading member of Catholic Action who opposed OUN recruitment efforts in his secondary school, Metropolitan Sheptytsky condemned both the crime and the criminal, reminding his flock that "a crime is always a crime, and it is not possible to serve a sacred cause with bloody hands."

During the first Bolshevik takeover of Galicia, Metropolitan Sheptytsky cautiously avoided open opposition to the Soviets, citing guarantees of religious freedom which were found in Stalin's constitution of 1936. Arguing that any civil law that was contrary to divine law had no legal force, he consistently upheld the rights of the Church in all matters spiritual. At the same time, however, he was aware that certain Church accommodations were necessary to counteract the efforts of the Soviets. He promoted a posture of "benevolent equilibrium" between justice and love. "Thus, in Sheptytsky's view, Christian ethical reflection involved the correction of laws whenever blind adherence to them would contravene the divine law of fraternal love." In allowing certain modifications of liturgical and structural tradition in order to counter Soviet efforts to destroy the Church, his goal was to sustain the faith of Christian believers in critical times. In his mind, the practical needs of the situation took precedence over requirements of ritual practice.

At no time did Metropolitan Sheptytsky authenticate his Christian principles more courageously than during the Nazi occupation. Believing that the Bolshevik menace was greater than the Nazi menace, he initially welcomed the Germans who quickly lifted Soviet-imposed bans on religious freedom. As Nazi atrocities became an integral component of German rule, however, he changed his mind, writing to the pope that the German regime is inherently depraved, even more than the Bolshevik regime, "evil and almost diabolical." Alarmed by the social and moral degeneration brought about by the Nazis, especially by the luring of local youth into German auxiliary police that helped the Nazis "achieve their perverse ends," he issued two key pastoral letters in 1942.

The first, "On Christian Mercy," argued that Christian duty went so far as the include placing one's own life in danger for the sake of another. This admonition was taken to heart by some 240 Ukrainian Catholic priests and hundreds of laypersons who sheltered Jews. The Ukrainian Catholic effort to save Jews lasted for two full years.

The second pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill," addressed the evil of Ukrainians participating in the summary executions of innocent Jews. Once promulgated, the Gestapo held the document for months before allowing it to be printed. Once its true purpose was realized, the letter was seized and censored.

No 20th century Ukrainian more dramatically exemplifies the Ukrainian Christian spirit than Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. The more we model our lives after his, the better Christians we will become.

Dr. Krawchuk's book is available from the Metropolitan Sheptytsky Institute, 223 Main St., Ottawa, Ontario K1S 1C4 for $49.95 (U.S.) or $53.45 (Canadian).

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is: [email protected]

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