LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (07/26/98)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A prayer for unity in Orthodox Church

Dear Editor:

Allow me first to thank the editors of The Ukrainian Weekly for permitting the discussions regarding the recent events in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to appear in their newspaper. This is the only forum where civil (for the most part) debate has appeared and interested parties have been able to engage one another.

Many who are aware of my previous vocal views on various issues in the Ukrainian community in general and the traditional Ukrainian churches in particular have been surprised by my silence to date. My reason is simple: I believe that there are strong arguments on both sides. Thus, I fully support the decision of the Council of Bishops to place the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora under the omophor (jurisdiction) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. I cannot help but also feel that we have not cultivated an honest and sincere dialogue or exchange with the various jurisdictions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Aside from the continuous support and dialogue with Ukraine, the Consistory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. could coordinate some of the following: the visitation of church choirs from Ukraine to tour our parishes, an exchange of museum exhibitions, sponsorship of professors from Ukraine to lecture at our seminary, monastics from Ukraine to address clergy retreats and give spiritual lectures to the faithful and a conference honoring St. Petro Mohyla featuring scholars from both Ukraine and the diaspora. All of the above, as well as other activities, would strengthen our spiritual contacts with Orthodoxy in Ukraine and not infringe upon the current ban against episcopal Eucharistic concelebration.

Conversely, while I support the Kyiv Patriarchate and indeed have served the divine liturgy with Patriarch Filaret, as well as with clergy under the jurisdiction of Patriarch Dymytrii, I think that to place all of our hope in one man is a mistake. Nonetheless, this seems to be precisely the myopic view taken by certain priests and parishes of the UOC in the U.S.A. and Diaspora. The ultimate result is a narrow, short-term historical and, indeed, future view of the Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarchate. We must remember, however, that all bishops will eventually be called to their eternal reward; the Church, on the other hand, will live forever. This sad state of affairs in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and in the Diaspora reminds me of a verse from sacred Scripture from the Book of Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).

It is as if the Ukrainian Orthodox Church outside of Ukraine continues to breath with only one lung. While Ukraine was under Soviet rule and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church forbidden (I do not use the word destroyed, for it is now evident that within the hearts of the nation the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was never destroyed), the Church outside of Ukraine continues to breathe with only one lung in that it was denied eucharistic communion by and with the "official" or "canonical" Orthodox patriarchates and autocephalous Churches because of their sins committed in desiring political peace with the "Soviet Church."

When the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine was resurrected and Metropolitan Mstyslav was called to be the first patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine, the Diaspora Church exulted in that it could rejoice in God with her bothers and sisters in Ukraine. But still it breathed with only one lung, under continuing denial of eucharistic communion with the "official and canonical" Orthodox patriarchates of the world.

Now, years later, while the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Diaspora has been accepted by Ecumenical Orthodoxy, it still breathes with only one lung in that it is still denied eucharistic communion with its brothers and sisters in Ukraine by the "official and canonical" Orthodox patriarchates.

We traded one lung for another. It still is no easier to breathe.

Thus, in all of this, there is only one thing of which I am sure: our great need for prayer. For decades the Ukrainian Orthodox faithful prayed for the freedom and independence of Ukraine and the resurrection of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Our prayers were heard and God liberated Ukraine and called the Church to life. Now that the prayers and hymns used in our churches to pray for the independence of Ukraine are no longer accurate, we need to construct new prayers and to continue to entreat God, beginning on our knees, not only for peace and unity in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but peace, unity and prosperity for our brothers and sisters in the Ukrainian nation and state.

Recently the following prayer was constructed in Ukrainian by Father Frank Estocin (edited and translated by this writer.) At the upcoming Sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, I will formally ask the Council of Bishops to bless the use of this prayer or another prayer, and to direct its reading in all of our churches. I would also suggest that the practice in Ukraine of chanting a second kondak to the Mother of God during the divine liturgy be adopted for use in our churches. The kondak to the Mother of God of Pochayiv (in the popular and familiar tone one) could be sung (with one suggested word change) in our churches, asking that the Mother of God protect and help the Church of Christ in Ukraine. The prayer, along with the singing of the kondak, would constitute our sincere prayer and entreaty for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and would certainly place our struggle for the Church on a higher moral ground.

Prayer for unity in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Heavenly Father, through holy baptism and the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, You have united our ancestors in recognizing You alone as true God, and Jesus, the Christ, as Your only begotten Son.

We entreat You to unite all those who recognize You as true God, and especially to look upon and unite the faithful in your holy Church in our native and divinely blessed independent Ukraine. Remembering, O Lord, the sacred commandment "that all may be one" that had once been kept by Your holy Church, blessed and strengthened by St. Olha and St. Volodymyr of Kyiv, we ask You, the Source of all wisdom and unity, to place into the hearts and souls of your servants, the archpastors who guide and shepherd the Ukrainian Orthodox faithful, the love, humility and strength necessary to discern Your true will. We ask for your blessings upon the bishops, priests, deacons and monastics of the Church who must guide your people to a greater love and understanding of You, the Creator and Father of us all.

Grant to all your people in Ukraine, and to her children scattered throughout the world, a true and sincere desire to work for sacred unity within one holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church; one Church, under the archpastoral omophor of the patriarch of Your beloved city of Kyiv and all Ukraine, which would truly fulfill Your holy desire that there be "one shepherd and one flock." Place into those whom You have called to sacred ministry the desire to be examples of faith and holiness to the faithful, strengthened by the prayers of Your holy saints. Mindful of your command "to come follow Me," we ask that you choose from among the men and women of our holy Church those who might be the future leaders of Your Church capable of guiding her faithful.

Protect us all, O Lord, who serve you with conviction of faith, keeping us from all evil, and allowing Your true spirit of love, forgiveness and compassion to be our guide in all things. Save, O Lord, especially your servants who guide and shepherd the Church in Ukraine, and open their hearts to that which is holy and true, keeping them from all evil. Allow them the strength to work toward that glorious day when all of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and her children throughout the world will gather together as one, as faithful members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, united around their chief shepherd, the patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine, who will take his rightful place among the patriarchs of Your holy Church. Amen.

Archimandrite Andriy (Partykevich)
Boston

The real issue is control of Church

Dear Editor:

I have been following your excellent and even-handed coverage of discussion about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in U.S. for many months now. The issues raised on editorial pages of your newspaper have not only far-reaching impact on the future direction of Ukrainian church life in the diaspora, but may also impact the nature and the character of the Church in Ukraine.

On the surface, the dispute appears to be about the canonical status of the Church, and subordination of the status to the supervision of the patriarch of a non-existing city. This superficial part of the dispute has the surreal quality of the medieval scholastic dispute about the number of angels on the head of a pin.

The real issue appears just below the surface of the argument. This issue repeats itself like the leitmotif of a Wagnerian opera in almost every letter to the editor. And like the main theme of "Der Ring," it is not about spirituality, but about power and money - or more exactly about control, and the ultimate use of money generated by the sweat and toil of many generations of Church members.

The real issue of the dispute, so clearly illustrated in a recent letter by Anna Wojtiuk, is who is going to inherit and control fiscal resources of the Church, now under the new management.

The tragedy of all of this is that the trust between laity and hierarchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America, so long taken for granted under the stewardship of Patriarch Mstyslav, no longer exists. And one cannot but realize that without such trust the future of the Church is doomed.

The fundamental question of missing trust between the laity and hierarchy, as well as of control of fiscal resources, deserves serious and honest considerations by all the delegates to the Church's forthcoming Synod.

Ihor Lysyj
Austin, Texas

Patriarch Mstyslav's legacy is forgotten

Dear Editor:

As I read The Weekly's "Turning the pages back..." article in the June 21 issue that commemorated the death and achievements of His Holiness Mstyslav I, I felt bile rise in my throat from the irony of the letter by Orysia Kulchytsky printed on the facing page of The Weekly. To think that only five short years have elaped since the death of our patriarch and already his disciples are turning their backs on the legacy of their mentor.

Yes, like Ms. Kulchytsky, I also read, I examined, I agonized over the proposed revisions to the governing document of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and, as is Ms. Kulchytsky, I am distraught over the blatant eradication of any reference to our autocephalous (independent) heritage.

The right of independence in all matters of its life and government, and equal rights with those of the other Autocephalous Orthodox Churches (as is stated in the previous Constitution) was won with the blood of Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivsky, with the blood of over 300 bishops and hundreds of thousands of clergy and faithful - with the blood of both my grandfathers, who perished in Siberian death camps.

Seventy-five years ago, the founder of the UOC of U.S.A., Metropolitan Ioan Theodorovich brought the Kyivan message to these shores with the specific purpose of disseminating the spirit of the autocephalous creed for the generations of Ukrainian Orthodox faithful in the diaspora. Following the brutal extermination of autocephaly in the 1930s in Ukraine, a revival, nonetheless, occurred under unforgiving German oppression in 1942. This time the revival was with the blessing of the patriarch of Poland, in the canonical (a term much misapplied in the last few years) hands of the Bishop of Lutsk, Polikarp.

Mstyslav Skrypnyk was one of the first to heed the call and eventually joined forces with Metropolitan Ioan in the United States. My father also was ordained during that precarious period by another of Metropolitan Polikarp's disciples, Bishop Ghennady. All that history, all that legacy is now being discarded by the revisionists.

As I thought further, I recalled the outrage that I felt on behalf of my Greek-Catholic brothers when their married priests were ordered out of territorial Poland. This was an attack on our traditions. This was an attack on our heritage. This was an attack on our Ukrainians. This was an attack on me.

Similarly, I cannot help but feel that this callous disregard of our Ukrainian autocephalous heritage is not merely affecting the Orthodox faithful. It is an affront to all Ukrainians, regardless of creed. We simply dare not let it happen.

Wolodymyr Mohuchy
Nutley, N.J.,

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