1998: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Our Churches: good news, and bad (12/27/98)

1998: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Our Churches: good news, and bad

Inter-confessional and intra-confessional conflicts, and even violence, which were evident during the late 1980s and early 1990s, all but disappeared as Ukraine entered its seventh year of independence. The U.S. State Department's annual human rights report, released in January, notes that 1997, like 1996, was basically stable in Ukraine in the sphere of religious activity, except for occasional incidents of religious conflict on an individual basis.

The report does criticize the government for onerous registration and reporting requirements mandatory for religious organizations, especially for those defined as "non-traditional," that is, Protestant. Various Ukrainian, Russian and Western sources cite the growing phenomenon of Protestant churches in Ukraine, a traditionally Orthodox country in which the Orthodox faithful remain split in their loyalties to Ukrainian patriarchs and the Moscow patriarch.

Religious property issues, a topic of much heated debate between government authorities and religious groups, as well as between confessions, have subsided. In fact, 1998 was notable for the amount of renovation and new construction on religious buildings, both in the diaspora and in Ukraine. (See "Kyiv reconstructs ancient treasures" and "Survey on culture and the arts.")

At a roundtable held at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington on January 15, the chief rabbi of Ukraine, Yaakov Bleich, stated that the Jewish community is faring better in Ukraine than in any of the other of the new independent countries of the region. However, he also warned that the welfare of Jews is tied to the general welfare of Ukraine. He stated that though there was no official, or government-supported anti-Semitism, there are numerous anti-Semitic incidents and publication of anti-Semitic articles, most notably in certain newspapers in western Ukraine. He noted the satisfactory resolution of the issues of the Brodsky synagogue in Kyiv and the Jewish cemetery in Lviv.

In an interview with Mustafa Jemilev, the political leader of the Crimean Tatars, who are returning to the Crimean peninsula after having been deported to Central Asia by Stalin after the second world war, the main problems facing the Muslim Tatars are economic and political, including the issue of Ukrainian citizenship, and not religious issues.

Orthodox Church

In the diaspora, there was increased tension within the Orthodox Church this year. The 1995 decision by the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. to accept the omophorion (protection) of the Patriarchate of Constantinople continued to cause tension among the parishes and faithful in America, many of whom do not support the decision to accept the jurisdiction of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Several parishes threatened to leave the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and on May 29, the Kyiv Patriarchate under the leadership of Patriarch Filaret accepted four U.S. parishes under its jurisdiction, a decision that received harsh criticism from the hierarchs in the U.S.

On May 27, Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in Canada for a pastoral visit (he had visited the U.S. in the fall of 1997). Ukrainian Orthodox, along other Orthodox faithful in Canada, hosted the patriarch in Winnipeg, on the campus of St. Andrew's College and at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The event helped mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. The UOC-Canada accepted the omophorion of the ecumenical patriarch in 1990.

The Sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., held October 13-19 at the Consistory in South Bound Brook, N.J., - which began with apprehension over the issues of Constantinople, proposed changes to the Church Constitution and the prospect of additional parishes leaving - ended in an uneasy calm as the changes to the Constitution were postponed and the Sobor accepted three resolutions: to contact the ecumenical patriarch with a request for written clarification of the relationship between Constantinople and the UOC-U.S.A., including commitment to an Autocephalous Church in Ukraine as the Mother Church for all Orthodox Ukrainians; to continue discussions with both Patriarchs Filaret and Dymytrii about Church unity in Ukraine; and, to confirm that only the ecumenical patriarch can grant autocephaly to a Church in Ukraine and that the Church in the U.S. will never belong to any Church controlled or influenced by Moscow. Metropolitan Constantine of the UOC-U.S.A. stated during the Sobor that if there is an independent, united autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine, one that is not controlled by Moscow, then the UOC-U.S.A. will go under the omophorion of the patriarch in Kyiv, one that is recognized by the ecumenical patriarch. This position reassured many Sobor delegates.

In accordance with the second motion, hierarchs of the UOC-U.S.A. met with Patriarch Filaret on October 23, shortly after his arrival in New York. The patriarch traveled to several cities on a pastoral visit to his parishes during his three weeks in the U.S.

Catholic Church

Pope John Paul II on April 6 granted the title of "venerable" to Josaphata Hordachevska, co-founder of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate. Sister Josaphata is the first Ukrainian woman to be going through the process of beatification-canonization.

Also, in April, a letter from Cardinal Angelo Sodano in Rome to the bishops of Poland stated that married clergy could not serve in Poland, and that all married Byzantine-Ukrainian Rite clergy should return to "their diocese of origin" in Ukraine, though many had no such diocese and were Polish citizens. This letter caught most Ukrainian Catholic Church hierarchs offguard and to many observers, appeared like a throwback to the dark days prior to Vatican II. The letter was immediately criticized by representatives of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine and in the West, as well as by Latin Rite bishops, including the bishops' conference in Australia, and Asia, as well as those attending an ecumenical conference in Washington in June. Cardinal Sodano made a trip to Kyiv in June where he met with Greek-Catholic hierarchs. Though no official response revoking the letter has come from Rome, the issue appears to have subsided.

During the weeks of August 23 through September 10, both a Sobor and Synod of the Ukrainian Catholic Church were held in Lviv, the metropolitan see of the Church in Ukraine. The Sobor discussed the role of the faithful in the Church and prepared a final document for publication later this year. The Sobor is an advisory body to the Church hierarchs composed of laity and clergy; and this was the second conclave of several planned over five years.

The Synod of Bishops discussed the role of the Ukrainian Catholic Church within the Universal Church. Both bodies announced preparations for celebrations of the second millennium of Christianity.

In Canada, the Eparchy of Toronto, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, saw the installation of Bishop Cornelius Pasichny on September 24 as its new eparch. His appointment ended a nine-year standoff with the Vatican, which began when Bishop Isidore Borecky refused to resign in 1984, after he was requested to do so by Pope John Paul II. Present at Bishop Pasichny's installation were representatives from the Vatican, as well as Bishop Borecky, who had agreed to retire. Bishop Roman Danylak, who had been in dispute with Bishop Borecky, was given a new assignment in Rome.

Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, who is the head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, called for the resumption of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, a program that had been suspended in 1990. He cited the 1995 apostolic letter on Christian unity by Pope John Paul II. The resumption was announced at a conference in Washington on June 9-12, "Orientale Lumen II," where relations between Churches and confessions were discussed, including a discussion of the Vatican letter that banned married Byzantine Rite priests from serving in Poland. Cardinal Cassidy, who stated that he had no prior knowledge of Cardinal Sodano's letter to the Polish bishops, suggested that the American bishops change their position (which, since 1929, bans the ordination of married men in the U.S.) as an example for Poland to follow.

In November Bishop Lubomyr Husar, who has assumed the daily responsibilities for the primate of the Church, Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky, confirmed that discussions between the government of Ukraine and the Vatican are under way to plan a papal visit to Ukraine, possibly for late 1999.

Other notables

More than 6,000 pilgrims received sacraments this year during the Feast of the Dormition during their pilgrimage to visit the icon of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia in western Ukraine.
The sisters of St. Basil the Great held groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Holy Trinity Chapel and Basilian Spiritual Center in Fox Chase Manor, Pa., on May 10.
Archbishop Antony, head of the Consistory of the UOC-U.S.A., celebrated 25 years of priesthood on January 17.
Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, widely considered to be the architect of the Holy See's policy of rapprochement with the Communist East, as well as a supporter of Catholics living under repressive Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, including the underground Ukrainian Catholic Church, died during the week of June 7 in Rome at the age of 83.
On May 17, the UOC-U.S.A. commemorated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patriarch Mstyslav, and the fifth anniversary of his death with a daylong commemoration at the Church's Consistory.
At the UOC-U.S.A. Sobor in October, it was announced that Bishop Vsevolod had been elevated to archbishop.
Sister Augustine, 93, who entered the convent of the Basilian Sisters in 1923, on August 28, celebrated 75 years of service to the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

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