Plans being made for papal visit

Plans being made for papal visit

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Plans are being made for a visit by Pope John Paul II to Ukraine, possibly for late next year. However, major scheduling obstacles exist that make such a trip far from certain.

Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Bishop Lubomyr Husar, who has assumed the day-to-day duties for the primate of the Church, Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky, told The Weekly on November 11 that discussions have been held between the Vatican and the Ukrainian government about a visit late next year.

"There have been discussions, without a doubt, and yes it is in regard to a visit next year, and only next year because preparations take that amount of time" said Bishop Husar.

However, because the pope does not visit countries prior to national elections, and because he will not be leaving the Vatican during the celebrations of the Second Millennium of Christianity in 2000, only a very limited window of opportunity exists for a visit to Ukraine by the head of the Catholic Church.

With Ukrainian presidential elections scheduled for October 1999, only the last two months of 1999 can be considered realistic target dates for a papal visit. Otherwise the trip would have to be put off until after 2000, and that would depend on the state of Pope John Paul's declining health.

Bishop Husar said the most realistic scenario is that an open invitation would be issued to the pope, and a specific date identified at a later time.

The bishop's press secretary said that several meetings had already taken place at Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in preparation for the extension of an invitation.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not confirm or deny that plans are being made to issue such an invitation. A press service spokesman for the ministry said that, in keeping with policy, such information is released only after an invitation is formally extended.

Nonetheless, Bishop Husar said he believes that an open invitation will be extended by the Ukrainian government. "A year, maybe two, ago it did not seem possible. So this is a step forward," explained Bishop Husar.

But the bishop underscored that nothing yet is set in stone. "You can't say that there is an agreement - that will only be true when there is an invitation."

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