NEWS AND VIEWS: Ukrainian American organizations meet with officials at Polish Consulate (01/31/99)

NEWS AND VIEWS

Ukrainian American organizations meet with officials at Polish Consulate

by Bozhena Olshaniwsky

NEW YORK - Representatives of several Ukrainian American non-governmental organizations met with representatives of the Polish government at the Consulate of Poland here in October 1998. The purpose of the meeting, requested by the Ukrainian American organizations was to discuss the matter of the possible deportation from Poland of married priests of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, in compliance with a directive from the Vatican to Roman Catholic hierarchs in Poland.

Present at the meeting were Yakov Wolsky, political counselor to Poland's ambassador in Washington; Richard Klemm, Poland's consul general in New York; Walter Bodnar of the Ukrainian National Center: History and Information Network (UNCHAIN); Walter Kikta of the Lemko Research Foundation; Bozhena Olshaniwsky of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU); and Lev Kolensky, a member of the Ukrainian American delegation.

Mr. Wolsky thanked the representatives of AHRU and UNCHAIN for their letters to the government of Poland and the Roman Catholic Church in Poland expressing concern about the deportation of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priests. He stated that the subject was of grave concern to the Polish government, which is striving to improve relations between Poland and Ukraine.

Mr. Wolsky stated that the government of Poland does not wish to get involved in any Church imbroglios and that the Catholic Church has complete autonomy from the Polish state. The Polish government will not deport Ukrainian Catholic priests under any circumstances as the matter stands now, and ultimately the approval for deportation lies with the government. Approximately a dozen married priests came from Ukraine to help temporarily alleviate the shortage of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priests in Poland. Of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priests in Poland who are Polish citizens, only 10 percent are married. Cardinal Kowalczyk, the papal nuncio in Poland, has not appealed to the Polish government to intervene in this matter. To emphasize the cooperative nature of relations between Ukraine, Poland and the U.S., Mr. Wolsky outlined several successful bilateral and trilateral agreements and treaties between the countries.

He noted that a summit is planned for Presidents Leonid Kuchma, Kwasniewski and Bill Clinton in April 1999 in Washington. He also highlighted the ongoing military cooperation and peacekeeping support within the framework of NATO: an American-Ukrainian-Polish battalion will be sent to the Balkans.

Mr. Kikta, who witnessed the desecration of the St. John Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Peremyshl, noted that he has photographs of walls of that church that are defaced with a depiction of a pre-war map of Poland in the form of an eagle that is choking an upside-down trident on one side and a swastika on the other, as well as grafitti that states: "For the innocent people of the Republic of Poland who were bestially murdered by the UPA [Ukrainian Insurgent Army] bandits on the eastern borderlands of Poland in 1942-1946." He asked if the government of Poland could intervene with the Polish Roman Catholic Church and their prejudicial and inflammatory behavior toward Ukrainians in Poland. Mr. Wolsky responded that the Polish government does not want to interfere in Catholic Church affairs and suggested that complaints be made to the Vatican.

Mr. Kolensky noted that demands about married priests should be reviewed in the context of the Poland-Vatican concordat that specifically outlines all the points and responsibilities of the agreement.

When asked if there is a law in Poland that prohibits fomenting of interreligious or interethnic hatred between groups, the Polish representations replied that no such law exists in Poland, but that there is freedom of speech in the written and printed word.

Mr. Wolsky made the appeal that cooperation between Ukraine and Poland and their diasporas be furthered in the U.S. on a variety of levels: cultural, political, historical, social. He suggested that a beginning could be small projects with attainable goals and then progress to more challenging ones. He mentioned the Batory Foundation project "Know-How" which has $20 million for such development.

Mr. Wolsky cited Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski as performing monumental work. It was Dr. Brzezinski who organized a U.S. European Polish Action Commission that will serve as a forum for commercial activities and the monitoring of Poland in NATO. Volodymyr Horbulin, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, will serve as an observer in this commission. Mr. Wolsky noted that a similar commission should be formed by Ukraine. He also mentioned that Dr. Brzezinski was recently honored as an "Honorary Citizen of Lviv."

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