EDITORIAL: Lubachivsky's legacy (12/24/00)

EDITORIAL

Lubachivsky's legacy

This week in Lviv, tens of thousands of faithful bid farewell to the leader of 7 million Ukrainian Catholics worldwide - 5 million in Ukraine and 2 million abroad.

Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky - whose other ecclesiastical titles were major archbishop of Lviv and metropolitan of Halych - passed away at the age of 86. His auxiliary, Bishop Lubomyr Husar, noted in a Ukrainian-language message to the clergy and laity that was disseminated around the globe:

"Though for a long time we had not seen him at public liturgies, he always remained our father, a true father, who perpetually prayed for his nation. Until the last days of his earthly life, he celebrated liturgy, read the 'Chasoslov' [a book of prayers] and prayed the rosary on our behalf. ...

"With the death of His Beatitude we have lost a father. But perhaps we have not lost him: from now on, together with two other fathers .. Andrei Sheptytsky and Josyf Slipyj, His Beatitude continues to pray for us."

Described by those who knew him as prayerful, reflective, wise and active in a humble and unassuming manner, Cardinal Lubachivsky spent more than half of his life beyond the borders of his native land. The life of this great Churchman is inextricably linked to two other great leaders of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, both of whom were at once archbishops of Lviv and metropolitans of Halych.

Born in Ukraine and ordained there in 1938 by the saintly Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, the Rev. Lubachivsky was prevented by war from returning to his homeland. In the aftermath of World War II, he visited with refugees and gave them spiritual and material assistance. "This calling to help those in need remained with him always," Bishop Husar underlined.

Father Lubachivsky emigrated to the United States, where his pastoral work touched the communities he served as pastor and teacher - Cleveland, Washington, Philadelphia and Stamford, among others - and the entire country, once he was named in 1979 as metropolitan for Ukrainian Catholics in the United States. Just a few months later he was named co-adjutor to another great Church leader, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, and after the patriarch's death in 1984 Archbishop Lubachivsky became the primate of the UGCC. He was elevated to a cardinal of the universal Church in 1985.

The Catholic News Service noted that Cardinal Lubachivsky was "a staunch defender of Ukrainian Catholics forced to live their faith clandestinely, a supporter of Ukrainian independence and an advocate of maintaining the identity and customs of the Eastern Catholic Churches." It added that Cardinal Lubachivsky "repeatedly asked Pope John Paul II to elevate the major Archdiocese of Lviv to a Patriarchate in keeping with the tradition of the Eastern Churches."

Msgr. Ivan Dacko, director of external relations for the Ukrainian Church who had served as the cardinal's personal assistant in Rome, told CNS that Cardinal Lubachivsky "presided over truly outstanding moments in our Church and our nation." Msgr. Dacko said, "He thanked Divine Providence for allowing him to collect the successes his predecessors worked so hard for: the legalization of our Church and the independence of Ukraine," and he noted that though the cardinal was not as adamant as his predecessors in requesting a Patriarchate, "he expected it to happen and was disappointed that it did not. ... He never had ambitions for himself, but wanted the Patriarchate for the status of the Church."

Bishop Husar also noted Cardinal Lubachivsky's love of the Ukrainian nation - perhaps epitomized by the singular act of kissing the ground in Lviv upon his return to Ukraine on March 30, 1991. "For this love, the Lord granted him a special gift: that in his person he united our nation in Ukraine and abroad, and was its spiritual leader at the joyous time of its freedom and independence."

Indeed, when Cardinal Lubachivsky returned to Ukraine after a 53-year absence and arrived at historic St. George Cathedral, it was a momentous event for Ukraine, then in the process of being reborn as an independent nation.

As noted by Ivan Hel, a religious rights activist who spent time in Soviet prisons and camps for championing the rights of the underground Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Cardinal Lubachivsky proceeded to lay the foundation for Church's rebirth. Among those foundations were the Church's administrative structure, which he revitalized, and the Lviv Theological Academy, which he renewed.

Another former Soviet dissident, Mykola Horyn, put into words the intangible significance of Cardinal Lubachivsky's arrival in his native land: "His return to Ukraine became a vindication of the irreversibility of the reign of God's spirit over our nation."

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