Kyiv and Vatican reaffirm that pope's visit is on track (01/28/01)

Kyiv and Vatican reaffirm that pope's visit is on track

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Reacting to efforts by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to have a scheduled visit by Pope John Paul II to Ukraine canceled, both the Ukrainian government and the Vatican issued strong statements on January 23 stating that such actions will not derail the pontiff's June trip.

Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykola Zhulynskyi said that the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate is wrong in claiming that the visit of Pope John Paul II must be postponed until the other religious confessions in Ukraine agree on how and when it should take place.

"This is a state visit, which has been agreed to by the first person of the state - the president of Ukraine," said the vice prime minister, while noting that the invitation from Ukraine was issued by the government to the Catholic primate as the head of state of the Vatican

That same day a Vatican spokesman issued a statement reconfirming the pope's plans in light of the complaint from the UOC-MP, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church and continues to claim millions of faithful in Ukraine. The statement explained that the 86-year-old pontiff "will meet with Ukrainian Catholics, and he hopes that he will be able to promote a peaceful ecumenical dialogue in this country." It added, "The visit is to take place as it was scheduled."

The minor brouhaha is the result of an appeal by UOC-MP Metropolitan Volodymyr Sabodan to Pope John Paul II - approved by the UOC-MP Holy Synod and Council of Bishops and issued on January 22 - in which the metropolitan expressed surprise at a visit of the Catholic primate to Ukraine proceeding without the Vatican "officially informing" the UOC-MP and without an invitation from the Kyiv metropolia.

Metropolitan Volodymyr suggested that, in the interests of inter-confessional relations, Pope John Paul II should delay his trip to "a more favorable period of cooperation between the two Churches." He explained that such a time period would be one when the UOC-MP could take part in the invitation procedure and preparations for the visit.

Metropolitan Volodymyr said the current poor relations between Ukrainian Greek-Catholics and Ukrainian Orthodox faithful in western Ukraine are the main reason he opposes the scheduled visit.

The head of the UOC-MP also expressed concern that the pontiff would meet with the leaders of the two other Ukrainian Orthodox confessions, the UOC - Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, both of which the Moscow Church views as non-canonical. The two Churches lately have shown every inclination to work together toward a unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church and have asked that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople bless the union - a move that would badly damage the standing of the UOC-MP in Ukraine.

"If during your visit Your Holiness meets with some of the schismatic leaders, that will mean that the Roman Catholic Church ignores the canonical principles of relations between Churches and interferes in our internal affairs ... it would mean the practical end of all relations between our Churches," stated Metropolitan Volodymyr in his open letter to the pope. The statement also suggested that the visit could contribute to whipping up tensions between Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek-Catholic believers in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials and the Vatican had announced the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ukraine at the beginning of November 2000 and the UOC-MP has complained publicly about the visit ever since - but never officially, until now. The Ukrainian government, however, has paid the grumbling little heed, except to privately assure Church leaders that all would be as it should.

The government has taken the position that the pope will make a state visit as the head of the Vatican and, therefore, must only adhere to the protocol that applies in such a case.

The UOC-MP is concerned that the visit by the charismatic pope could promote a tide of conversions in western Ukraine, which historically was overwhelmingly Greek-Catholic, but became increasingly Orthodox during the 45 years the region was under Soviet control - a time when the Russian Orthodox Church was the only legally acknowledged religious entity. The UOC-MP and its Moscow-based leader, Patriarch Aleksei II, have threatened that the pope's visit to Ukraine could end ecumenical talks that have continued without tangible results for decades.

The UOC-MP has warned the Vatican that Ukrainian believers may stage street protests if Pope John Paul II pushes ahead with his visit to Ukraine in June. "Our flock does not want the pontiff to visit [Ukraine] as long as the inter-Christian conflict with Greek Catholics is not regulated in western Ukraine. [The flock] has the right to protest the pope's visit with such actions as pickets, rallies and processions," the Kyiv metropolitan's office told Interfax.

The beginning of Pope John Paul's visit - the first of its kind to a former Soviet republic - recently was changed from June 21-24 to June 23-27. The change was announced by the Vatican and reported by the Catholic News Service following a trip to Ukraine on January 8-13 by an advance group planning the papal visit. The group, led by the Rev. Roberto Tucci, met with representatives of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches, as well as national and local government officials in Kyiv and Lviv who are responsible for planning and overseeing the pope's historic trip.

According to Nina Kovalska, Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican, the date of the papal visit was moved back because June 22 marks the 60th anniversary of German bombing of Kyiv during World War II and the beginning of the Nazi-Soviet war, a date that will be commemorated with appropriate ceremonies in the Ukrainian capital.

According to the general program agreed upon during the Vatican delegation's visit to Ukraine, the pontiff will spend two days in Kyiv and two days in Lviv, the generally recognized capital of western Ukraine.

The leader of the world's Catholics will conduct both Byzantine and Latin rite liturgical services during his stay in Kyiv. The pontiff is expected to meet with President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko, as well as with the bishops of both the Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Churches of Ukraine. Up to 300,000 visitors from Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic states are expected to jam the capital city during the visit.

In related news, the Catholic News Service reported that Bishop Lubomyr Husar of Lviv, acting primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, and Archbishop Marian Jaworski of Lviv, who heads the Latin rite bishop's conference in Ukraine, released a joint letter in anticipation of Pope John Paul's visit.

The hierarchs said: "The Slavic pope has wanted from the first year of his pontificate to visit [Ukraine] ... We are convinced that not only Catholics, but all men and women await the visit of the holy father with great esteem and with a deep desire that the messenger of love and the peace of Christ will bring divine blessing to all."

"We will have an opportunity to express our fidelity to the holy father, our gratitude for his presence and for his care for all Slavic people," the letter continued. "We nourish the hope that the pope who comes from Slavic stock can become the bond of unity of all who profess the Christian faith."

The pope may not be the only religious leader whom Ukraine sees this year. On January 10 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate announced that it had extended an invitation to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the leader of a majority of the world's Orthodox faithful, to visit Ukraine before Pope John Paul II does.

UOC-KP Patriarch Filaret said it is "desirable" that the head of the Constantinople Church "arrive in the Orthodox state" prior to the pope, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

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