FOR THE RECORD: Cardinal Husar reiterates UGCC's position on St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (06/02/02)

FOR THE RECORD

Cardinal Husar reiterates UGCC's position on St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv

Religious Information Service of Ukraine

LVIV - Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), reiterated the official position of the UGCC on the restitution of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv. The statement was released on April 17.

After part 137 of the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On Conditions of Restitution of Religious Buildings and Monuments of Architecture to Religious Organizations" was publicized on February 14, fierce debates arose between the Orthodox churches in Ukraine over the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv.

The position of the UGCC on the issue was declared at the Metropolitan's Synod on January 3-4 and stated in a letter to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma sent on January 11. Cardinal Husar, however, found it necessary to reiterate the UGCC's position, as it is often misinterpreted or distorted by the mass media.

An excerpt from the statement follows.

"The Cathedral of St. Sophia is a spiritual symbol of unity and a sacred place of special importance for the whole Ukrainian nation. It should be transferred to the patriarch of the Ukrainian Church when all Orthodox and Catholic faithful, whose roots reach back to the baptism of Volodymyr, return to the original unity of the very beginnings of Christianity in Ukraine, and when they have a single patriarch. Therefore, the bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church believe that this sanctuary should remain the property of the Ukrainian government until that blessed moment.

"Taking into consideration the present circumstances, under which the Kyivan Church is divided into four denominations: the UOC-MP [Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate], the UGCC [Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church], the UOC-KP [Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate] and the UAOC [Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church], the hierarchy of the UGCC sees two possible ways of solving the problem of returning St. Sophia's Cathedral:

"1. Allow the Cathedral of St. Sophia to be used for religious services by the above-mentioned denominations on an equal basis. It should, however, be pointed out that such use will every time call forth a significant resonance in society.

"2. Refuse to transfer the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv to any of the denominations for permanent or temporary use for the time being, as long the ecclesial unity of the time of Volodymyr's baptism has not been renewed in Ukraine."

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