LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (05/25/03)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Remembering Ihor Olshaniwsky

Dear Editor:

It was heartening to read the "Turning the pages back..." on the April 27 Weekly editorial page. In this remembrance you write about the official opening of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine in the U.S. Congress on April 23, 1986, and about Ihor Olshaniwsky.

I remember being at Ihor's bedside in St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, N.J., where he lay paralyzed and mortally ill when he receive his invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the Famine Commission in the Rayburn Office Building in Washington.

In his eyes I could see tears of joy when he said: "It is finally happening."

It is only now that we can fully appreciate the workings, the results, the aftereffects and the impact of the Famine Commission in the U.S. Congress.

Sadly, I have to admit, that Ihor did not receive the recognition due him for the work he did on the U.S. Commission - his creativity, his pereverance and his extraordinary power of persuasion. It was due to these qualities that the project of the Famine Commission became a reality.

The individuals who overtly and covertly tried to block Ihor's work and efforts on the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine are not men enough to admit the error of their ways, even after the commission and the results of its work became a reality and after Ihor died.

It is gratifying to read a remembrance about Ihor's work in The Weekly, especially in the face of pervasive silence about him both in the U.S. and Ukraine.

I commend you for your good work and especially for "truth in reporting" as you have done in the past.

Bozhena Olshaniwsky
Newark, N.J.

Editor's note: The Ukrainian Weekly worked closely with Ihor Olshaniwsky in pushing for the establishment of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine. We shared his vision and resolved to do our utmost to see this significant endeavor become reality.

An plea for help from Ukraine

Dear Editor:

The St. Andrew's Society receives countless letters from parishes of the UOC-KP and UAOC in Ukraine requesting help in building or renovating a church. Given our limited funds we usually don't answer these pleas.

However, recently we received two letters we can't ignore. The first one is from the town of Lubeshiw in Polissia, where the people are building the very first Ukrainian church in the entire region, and are encountering "an unbelievable number of spokes being put in our wheels."

The other letter comes from a parish in the Obolon district of Kyiv, which is being persecuted just as it was under the Soviet regime. The founder of the parish, Volodymyr Katelnytsky, and his mother were murdered and, somewhat later, the church was torched. Now that it has been rebuilt by the parishioners, they were told to pay about $1,300 to cover all sorts of fees, or else the church would be closed. These poor people can't possibly come up with such a sum. This is explained in their letter:

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters from far away America!

In September 2002, in the Obolon district of Kyiv, with a population of 300,000, the rebuilding of a small church was completed. It is the only church of UOC-KP in the whole district. It was initially built a few years ago, thanks to the initiative of Volodymyr Katelnytsky, who was slaughtered with his mother for our holy faith.

Compared to the huge, opulant church of the Moscow Patriarchate, our little church looks very modest, but we Ukrainians were and are flocking to it as if it were our mother.

The liturgy is celebrated by Father Viktor who, in a very short period of time, succeeded in attracting the Ukrainian community to its doors. He enjoys our love, our respect, our support.

Not long after our church was opened, but someone couldn't accept the fact of its existence and burnt it down.

Our sorrow was indescribable!...

But, thanks to the persistent efforts of Father Viktor, we have rebuilt our little church, and we are once again worshipping the Lord within its walls. It also serves as a distribution center for food packages and baked goods, which our indigent and poor are receiving thanks to your generosity.

But now, we are in danger of loosing our little church. For the lot and the paperwork we have been charged 7,000 hrv and we don't have the money. They will close our church for non-payment.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, dear countrymen!

We, the parishioners of the church of "The Unburnable Bush," are appealing to you on our knees: If you can, help us keep our little Ukrainian church - God's candle in Obolon!"

With profound respect, signed by Halyna Havrylenko (coordinator of St. Andrew's cafeterias in Kyiv) followed by 300 signatures.

* * *

We join their pleas for help. If you can afford it, please send your tax-deductible contribution today to: St. Andrew's Society, Inc., 1023 Yorkshire Drive, Los Altos, CA 94024.

Michael Heretz
Volodymyr Bakum
Rutherford, N.J.

The letter writers are, respectively, president and secretary of St. Andrew's Society.

A thank-you for "Perspectives"

Dear Editor:

Thank you for the commentary in "Perspectives" by Andrew Fedynsky titled "Suppresing the news at CNN and The New York Times (April 27)." The media are not ruled by diversity but by a deeply intrenched liberal adherents. This is serious not only for Ukrainians but all of our citizenry.

The article by Mr. Fedynsky is worthy of retention as a reference and resource to maintain the battle against the dominant few in the media, especially The New York Times.

The strength of our country is dependent on the moral climate in which we speak and write the truth, nothing but the truth, the whole truth.

God bless you for your efforts in The Ukrainian Weekly.

Joseph Jackson
New Providence, N.J.

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