2003: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Our Churches: activity in Ukraine and beyond

The year 2003 also saw much activity within the Ukrainian religious realm. The appointment of new eparchs, a synod, the deaths of several prominent religious figures and attempts at the unification of divided Churches were among some of the more notable developments The Weekly reported.

On February 3-6 the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) held a meeting of the Permanent Synod of Bishops. The UGCC hierarchs gathered in Rome to discuss the problems of the beatification of Ukrainian confessors of the faith, as well as the religious situation in Ukraine.

On the morning of February 3, Pope John Paul welcomed members of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, in particular their major archbishop, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, and told them that their meeting in Rome "is a happy occasion to reaffirm your communion with the Successor of Peter."

On February 5, Cardinal Husar, and members of the Synod met with Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and Archbishop Edward Nowak, secretary of the congregation. Special attention during their meeting was focused on the beatification of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, which has entered its final stage. In addition, the Ukrainian hierarchs presented a list of new martyrs of the UGCC whose beatification processes would start shortly. All necessary documents for the beatification of Cardinal and Patriarch Josyf Slipyj were also submitted to the congregation's officers.

Following the synod, Cardinal Husar made a pastoral visit to Canada on the invitation of Archbishop Michael Bzdel, metropolitan of Canada, and Bishop Cornelius Pasichny, eparch of Eastern Canada, on February 6-24. The 19-day trip included the cities of Winnipeg, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal.

In metro Toronto, an area with myriad Ukrainian institutions and many churches, Cardinal Husar's trip included parish visits and celebrations at the churches of St. Nicholas, St. Demetrius and the Holy Dormition Church.

The Toronto visit included a grand banquet in Mississauga, attended by about 1,200 people, where the Church leader was welcomed by the mayor. Cardinal Husar left Toronto on February 24 for Great Britain, where two days later he marked his 70th birthday.

During his trip to Canada Cardinal Husar also described the changes in the life of his Church. The cardinal said that the realization of a self-sufficient, partriarchal Church is no longer hampered by past problems. Today, the Church is ready to move toward the realization of a patriarchal Church "because, we have all the necessary elements: our own homeland - the Ukrainian state - and our own ecclesiastic territory with more than 4.5 million faithful," Cardinal Husar said during an interview at the Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Ottawa.

"What is more, the said territory is now covered with a network of our [Ukrainian Catholic] structures, that is, eparchies, monasteries, seminaries, parishes. In short, we have all the elements in place that the Eastern canon law and ecclesiastic tradition require. We also have 1.5 million faithful engaged in the living, well-organized Church outside Ukraine. So, in terms of structure, there are no problems in creating a partriarchate," he said.

The cardinal then went on to speak about ecumenism. Although, there are no formal ecumenical relations between the UGCC and the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine, personal relations between hierarchs of these Churches are friendly. However, he also observed that the beautiful stories from the Soviet past about Christians of different denominations helping each other, now that freedom is guaranteed, are being obliterated in some sectors of society by the return of prejudice.

He talked, with considerable enthusiasm, about the ecumenical role of the UGCC within the sphere of the 21 Eastern Catholic Churches, on one hand, and within the global Catholic Church, on the other. As Cardinal Husar explained, within the global Catholic Church, the UGCC's role is unique. "Since Ukraine is geographically placed between two worlds, two great cultures, it is our task to explain the East to the West, and the West to the East, that is, to bridge these two worlds by explaining Byzantine culture to the Latin culture and vice versa."

The Weekly also reported that in response to the challenges and needs of Ukrainian Catholics and Ukrainian Orthodox in the 21st Century, the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic Churches in North America - metropolitans, archbishops and bishops - were hosted by Metropolitan Constantine and Archbishops Antony and Vsevolod at a "Fraternal Encounter" on July 11 at St. Andrew the First-called Apostle Ukrainian Orthodox Center in South Bound Brook, N.J.

The hierarchs had for some time been discussing the possibility and necessity of such a meeting as a means by which they could come to know one another on more than simply a social level. Such an encounter with open discussion of ecclesiastical and community issues was meant to be beneficial for the faithful in the long term.

Participating in the one-day session were: Metropolitan Constantine, Central Eparchy, the prime hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.; Metropolitan Stefan Soroka, Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia; Archbishop Jurij, Eastern Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada; Archbishop Antony, Eastern Eparchy, UOC; Bishop Basil Losten, Stamford Eparchy, UCC; Archbishop Vsevolod, Western Eparchy, UOC; Bishop Robert Moskal, St. Josaphat Eparchy, Parma, Ohio, UOC; Bishop Severian Yakymyshyn, Eparchy of New Westminster, British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada, UCC; Cornelius Pasichny, bishop emeritus of Toronto and Eastern Canada, UCC; and Bishop Robert Seminak, St. Nicholas Eparchy Chicago, UCC.

Reflected upon at great length at this first fraternal encounter of the Catholic and Orthodox hierarchs were issues common to both Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholics, whose parish communities and eparchies took root, grew and developed in North America as far back as the late 1800s. Addressed in broad terms were relationships with Ukrainian communities and organizations in North America and Ukraine; the challenges presented by the ongoing process of secularization in society; and the Church's role as the principal teacher and repository of faith and morality, and as the promoter and guardian of the sanctity of life.

There was a solid agreement that in spite of the fact that there do exist some theological and dogmatic issues that divide the two Churches, there is the real possibility that the relationship between the two Churches on all levels can improve. The hierarchs agreed that such fraternal encounters should continue and set the date for the next one in early 2004.

The Metropolia Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. in South Bound Brook/Somerset, N.J., on June 8 held a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of Patriarch Mstyslav, the long-time prime hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and Diaspora. Several hundred people took part in the prayerful commemoration, which began with divine liturgy in St. Andrew Memorial Church. Metropolitan Constantine and Archbishops Antony and Vsevolod concelebrated the liturgy, assisted by clergy.

In the patriarch's crypt in Holy Resurrection Mausoleum beneath St. Andrew Church the hierarchs, 35 clergy and the faithful gathered in the late afternoon to offer prayer for the repose of Patriarch Mstyslav's soul. Participating in these prayers were the patriarch's son, Yaroslav, with his wife, Sophia, from Edmonton; and daughter Tamara from Toronto, with her children and grandchildren.

Archbishop Vsevolod spoke prior to the panakhyda (requiem service) remembering Patriarch Mstyslav as the eldest among all the patriarchs of the Orthodox world and a Church leader who linked the 19th and 20th centuries. The patriarch was the nephew of Symon Petliura and it was from this family line that he inherited his civic and political commitment, which, in conjunction with the spiritual commitment he inherited from his monastic relatives, made him the unique leader he was. Following the memorial service, over 200 people remained for a memorial dinner in the Ukrainian Cultural Center. Metropolitan Constantine spoke about Metropolitan Mstyslav, who worked closely with Metropolitan John, his predecessor as prime hierarch of the Church. The evening concluded with the screening of a videotape of the patriarch's first arrival in Ukraine to the capital of Kyiv, well after midnight, his reception by thousands of people at the airport and surrounding St. Sophia Cathedral in the city, and his first visit to St. Sophia Cathedral in 49 years.

In a move towards unity, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) called upon the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) to overcome the crisis inside the Church and unite in a national Orthodox Church in Ukraine in a statement released on March 20. The press service of the UOC-KP released the statement, titled "We Will Love in Deed and Truth, But not Through Words and Tongue."

"With deep sorrow did the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate learn that over the last several months the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church has suffered events that aggravated the division in the Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Metropolitan Mefodii [Kudriakov], spiritual head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and Archbishop Ihor [Isichenko of Kharkiv and Poltava], responsible for managing affairs of the Patriarchate of the UAOC, released documents that caused another split in the UAOC," the statement read.

"The agreement on concrete measures towards unification signed by the UOC-KP and the UAOC at the Constantinople Patriarchate, working meetings on this matter both in the Constantinople Patriarchate and in Ukraine, and the approval of concluding documents gave many Orthodox believers in Ukraine hope that the division between the two Orthodox jurisdictions with similar standpoints concerning patriotism and the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church would be overcome.

"Unfortunately, since that time little has been done towards unification. The Kyiv Patriarchate has repeatedly called to resume the process which had already been begun, but received no response. After the UAOC hierarchs with whom an agreement had been reached lost their unity, the current situation was aggravated even more.

"Therefore, the Kyiv Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church fulfills its obligation to encourage the hierarchs and faithful of the UAOC to unite in a national Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This unification corresponds to the message and the spirit of the documents which were signed by plenipotentiary representatives of the UAOC in the Constantinople Patriarchate in the presence of His Beatitude Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. This unification will meet the demands of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and mean the fulfillment of the covenant of love given by Jesus Christ."

The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church held the 18th Session of the Synod of Bishops of the Kyiv and Halych Metropolitanate in Lviv on March 18-19. Among the participants were 12 Ukrainian hierarchs, the members of the synod, and Archbishop Ivan Martyniak, metropolitan of Przemysl (Peremyshl) and Warsaw, Poland.

Participants of the session discussed various organizational problems of the metropolitanate's hierarchical bodies and the synod, as well as a number of pastoral issues. They also considered possible ways for proper commemoration of the Year of the Family, proclaimed by the head of the UGCC in early January 2003. They gave corresponding instructions concerning "The Procedure of Preparation for Marriage" and other Church documents and religious practices. In addition, all priests of the metropolitanate were advised to emphasize the importance of joint prayer in families.

Observances of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet-imposed Famine-Genocide in Ukraine in 1932-1933, the publication of a pastoral letter on economic reforms in Ukraine, and commemorations of the 700th anniversary of the establishment of the Kyiv and Halych Metropolitanate and of the 750th anniversary of the coronation of King Danylo of Halych were also discussed during the session.

The Weekly also reported that thousands of people were forming queues outside of St. Volodymyr Cathedral in Kyiv beginning on May 3 to get a glimpse of the Shroud of Turin, what is perceived to be the likeness of Jesus Christ found on a copy of an ancient cloth. The relic, a Vatican-sanctioned replica of the Shroud of Turin, arrived in Kyiv from Lviv during Holy Week according to the Gregorian calendar. Since September 2002, it had been on display at St. George Cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin.

The copy, one of eight that exist in the world, bears the imprint of a human figure, which Christian believers say is the likeness of Jesus Christ. The original shroud, found in the Italian city of Turin and displayed very rarely, is said to be the cloth that the biblical figure Joseph of Aramithea gave for the burial of Jesus after He was crucified. The copy that toured Ukraine, which is considered the best replication of the original, is permanently found in Miensk, Belarus.

Later in the year, the pope announced the appointment of Msgr. Richard Seminack, pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Carnegie, Pa., as the new eparch of the St. Nicholas Eparchy in Chicago. The appointment, made on May 25, affirmed the nomination made to the holy father by the Synod of Ukrainian Catholic Bishops. The bishop-elect succeeded Bishop Michael Wiwchar, CSsR, who was appointed in November 2000 as the bishop for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in Saskatoon. Bishop Wiwchar had served as administrator of the Chicago Eparchy from November 2000 until the appointment by the pope. Bishop Seminack, 61, studied at St. Basil's Seminar College in Stamford, Conn., at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Seminary and The Catholic University of America in Washington, where he received a master's of divinity degree.

The year 2003 also saw the ordination of the Rev. Stephen V. Chmilar, 58, as the Ukrainian Catholic Church's eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada on July 23 at the Church of the Holy Dormition in Mississauga, Ontario. Cardinal Husar, recognized within the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UCC) as its patriarch, traveled from his chancery in Lviv via Rome to lead the ceremony.

Bishop-elect Chmilar succeeded Bishop Cornelius J. Pasichny OSBM, who retired earlier in the year at the age of 75, after heading the eparchy since 1998. Having received nominations from the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II announced on May 3 that the Rev. Chmilar had been named as the next eparch of Toronto. A reception at the Mississauga Convention Center after the service was attended by over 800 clergy, faithful and well-wishers.

Pope John Paul II also approved on July 28 the creation of the exarchate of southern Ukrainian Odesa and Crimea by dividing the territory of Kyiv and Vyshhorod exarchate. The pope also approved the appointment of Father Vasyl Ivasiuk of the Sokal eparchy as exarch of Odesa and Crimea that same day.

On November 23, the pope sent Cardinal Husar and Roman Catholic Cardinal Marian Jaworski a statement on the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Famine Genocide of 1932-1933.

"Millions of people suffered a terrible death through the pernicious activities of an ideology that throughout the 20th century became the cause of suffering and grief in many parts of the world. On this occasion, I wish to participate spiritually in the memorial ceremonies that will be held in honor of the countless victims of the Great Famine that occurred in Ukraine during the reign of the Communist regime. I speak of the terrible plan carried out with cold calculation by those in power in that era," the pope's statement read. "The experience of this tragedy should today guide the feelings and activities of the Ukrainian people on the road to concord and cooperation."

The Weekly also reported that Bishop Isidore Borecky, the former Ukrainian Catholic eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada, died on July 23, at Toronto's Western Hospital, after 65 years in the priesthood and 55 years as a bishop. An estimated 1,200 mourners paid their last respects on July 23-26 to a man hailed as a builder, a patron and an active supporter of the Ukrainian Catholic Patriarchate. Cardinal Lubomyr Husar was on hand to officiate at Bishop Borecky's funeral at Mississauga's Church of the Holy Dormition, and delivered the funeral oration. The newly ordained eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada, Bishop Chmilar, read a message from the Vatican.

A bishop's parastas was offered on July 24 at St. Nicholas Church, and on July 25 at the eparchy's cathedral, St. Josaphat's, both in Toronto. An estimated 650 clergy and laity participated.

It was also reported in 2003 that a shrine dedicated to Nicholas Charnetsky was consecrated in Lviv. During the divine liturgy that Pope John Paul II celebrated in Lviv on June 27, 2001, 27 Ukrainian Catholics - referred to as "Blessed Venerable Martyr Nicholas Charnetsky and his Companions" were beatified as martyrs and confessors of the faith.

On July 11, 2002, a memorial cross had been consecrated on one of the scenic hills in the city of Lviv, marking the future site of the Shrine of Blessed Venerable Martyr Nicholas Charnetsky. On July 4, 2002, the relics of the martyr Nicholas Charnetsky were solemnly transferred from the Lychakiv Cemetery to the Church of St. Josaphat, which is under the pastoral care of the Redemptorist Fathers of the Lviv Province. A procession of many thousands of faithful passed through the streets of the ancient royal city.

During the first week that the holy relics were on display at the Church of St. Josaphat, nearly 150,000 faithful arrived from all parts of Ukraine to offer their personal prayers at the reliquary of the Blessed Nicholas, known also as "St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker." Since the deposition of the relics of Blessed Venerable Martyr Nicholas Charnetsky, the Church of St. Josaphat had become a popular pilgrimage site for thousands of faithful from all of Ukraine. From morning to late evening, people came to pray at the reliquary of the Blessed Nicholas in the hope of recovering their spiritual strength and physical health.

The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Rome celebrated its 40th anniversary on December 6-7. Professors, senators and students of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv traveled to the Eternal City for the festivities. They were joined by representatives of the St. Sophia Association, which is now the owner and caretaker of the university's premises in Rome. Professors from various Roman universities, Ukrainians presently working in Italy and other interested parties also took part. Cardinal Husar presented special awards to Bishop Ivan Choma and the Rev. Dr. Muzyczka, who had been close co-workers with Patriarch Josyf Slipyj in the creation of the UCU in Rome.

A religious event held in Uman, Ukraine, a sleepy county seat of 88,000 two hours' drive south of the Kyiv metropolis, also made headlines in 2003. More than 14,000 Hasidic Jews, the overwhelming majority from Israel and around 90 percent of them members of the Bratslav branch of Hasidism, gathered on September 26-28 to celebrate the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah.

They came to celebrate the beginning of the Jewish year 5764, explained Dov Nathan Kramer, the director of the International Charitable Fund of Rebbe Nachmann, considered the central organization of the Bratslav Hasidic movement, which does not acknowledge a leader other than the founder of the movement.

The gathering, one of the strongest established religious traditions in Ukraine, has occurred every year since 1812, except for the 70 years of Soviet rule when the celebration was banned. For the most part it involves much prayer at the burial site of the group's founder, Rebbe Nachmann, in compliance with instructions that he set out for his followers before his death. But it also includes an upbeat atmosphere, light-hearted communal meals in a huge cafeteria, ritual cleansings and the ancient Jewish tradition of bringing in the New Year to the sound of a Ram's Horn.

The Orthodox Jews who gather in Uman belong to the branch of Hasidic Jewry that identifies itself as Bratslav Hasidism. Rebbe Nachmann, who developed the movement, was a recognized Jewish mystic and holy man born in 1772, who lived in Bratslav, Ukraine (hence the name), located not far from Uman.

The Hasidic Jews of the Bratslav movement have gathered in Uman for Rosh Hashanah every year since Rebbe Nachmann instructed them to do so. Celebrations on a large scale did not occur only when Uman was considered a closed city during the Soviet era and authorities forbade non-residents to enter. However, even then, the daring and the most faithful would find a way to Rebbe Nachmann's grave, which was hidden in the garden of a local Jew who acted as the caretaker. Since Ukraine's independence was re-established in 1991, the pilgrimage tradition has resumed and taken on a grand scale. Today around 15,000 of the world's 20,000 Bratslav Hassid, as well as followers of other Hasidic movements, travel annually to Uman for the Jewish New Year.

The Weekly also reported that the Armenian Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Lviv was reconsecrated on May 18. After 50 years in government possession, the historic cathedral was recently returned to the local Armenian community in the largest and most important city in western Ukraine.

Leonid Kravchuk, Ukraine's first president, Charles Aznavour, a French singer of Armenian descent, and other representatives of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora from around the globe were present at the ceremony. The ceremonial opening of the church began with a procession of about 1,000 people through Lviv's historic city center.

An icon of the 17th century spiritual and cultural leader Metropolitan Petro Mohyla, prepared by monks of the Romanian Orthodox Church in honor of his canonization in Romania, was presented to the Annunciation Church of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy on January 14.

The Romanian Orthodox Church had canonized Metropolitan Mohyla a saint on October 13, 2002, during a ceremony in his hometown of Iasi, present-day Romania, assigning December 22 as the date of his commemoration. In 1997 a synod of the Romanian Church had recognized the canonization of Mohyla by the Ukrainian Orthodox. The metropolitan was canonized by both the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (1996) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate.

Representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy in Romania presented a stylized likeness of the legendary metropolitan of Kyiv, Halychyna and all of Rus' to the Annunciation Church of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. Today known as the Church of St. Petro Mohyla, the church honors Metropolitan Mohyla, who founded the Kyiv academy that bears his name in 1631. Monks of the monastery in Iasi created the fresco.

Metropolitan Mohyla, who had been appointed the archimandrite of the Kyivan Cave Monastery in 1627, in 1631 established the Kyivan Cave Monastery School. In 1632 the Kyivan Cave Monastery School merged with the Kyiv Epiphany Brotherhood School to create a college. With time it became the Kyiv Mohyla Academy - eventually the largest educational and scholarly center in Eastern Europe.

Ukraine's National Committee on Religious Matters at a press conference on February 4 released official information on the development of religious institutions in Ukraine in 2002 and presented statistics on religious organizations in Ukraine as of January 1, 2003.

According to the report, Ukraine is currently home to 28,567 religious organizations, including 27,480 religious communities that profess 54 different religions. More than 1,000 religious communities of the total number are unregistered.

During 2002 the number of religious organizations increased by 5.7 percent, constituting 1,423 organizations, 726 (52.4 percent) of which are Orthodox communities. Among these Orthodox communities, 525 (72.3 percent) belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). The total number of UOC-MP communities in Ukraine is 10,040.

The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church ranks second with its 3,334 communities. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate has 3,196 communities; the Baptist Church - 2,272; the Pentecostal Church of Evangelical Faith - 1,366; the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - 1,110; the Seventh-Day Adventist Church - 928; the Roman Catholic Church - 847; and the Charismatic Church - 790.

There are also 262 Jewish communities and 462 Muslim communities in Ukraine, 320 of which are in Crimea. New religious organizations in Ukraine constitute 4.5 percent of the total number.

The number of religious buildings in Ukraine has increased by 478 and currently constitutes 19,112. Most religious communities, however, are not fully provided with church buildings. The Subcarpathian Reformed Church is the only religious organization whose needs in church buildings are completely satisfied, according to the report. Today, 2,232 religious buildings are being built in Ukraine, among which 439 are funded by the state.

The Weekly also reported that a multi-faceted missionary movement had achieved successes in Ukraine and had brought to the country several non-denominational and U.S.-based religions not previously known there, among them strong evangelical and charismatic movements including Embassy of the Kingdom of God and a Presbyterian church.

A study by the Religious Information Service of Ukraine showed that about 50 percent of Ukrainians claim membership in one of the three Orthodox Churches that exist in Ukraine today and about 6 percent to 8 percent say they belong to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, with fewer than 2 percent claiming Roman Catholic Church affiliation. The study stated that there were probably no more than 700,000 to 800,000 Protestant believers in Ukraine.

However, another survey, this one conducted by the Association for Spiritual Renewal in Moscow, disputed the figures for the number of Protestant believers and noted a 33 percent increase in membership and a doubling in median attendance in what they termed "Evangelical Christian-Baptist Churches."

In Ukraine, these Churches consist of the traditional Protestant religious confessions, such as the Baptists, who have been in Ukraine since the mid-19th century; the Lutherans, who have been here since at least the 16th century; and the Seventh Day Adventists, who appeared in the 1880s. But they also include an influx of missionary movements from Africa and the United States, bearing witness to the particular beliefs of the Presbyterian Church, the Church of the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses and other religions further on the fringe, including home-grown religious sects such as the White Brotherhood, which achieved notoriety in Kyiv in 1992-1993.

Ukraine has also seen the explosion of charismatic religions, such as the Pentecostals, who believe in communion with God through hypnotic trances and speaking in tongues. For example, the Embassy of the Kingdom of God has become among the most popular of the Pentecostal Churches. Its founder, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, a 36-year-old Nigerian from a religious Christian family who studied journalism in Miensk, Belarus, came to Kyiv after the Soviet Union fell. In 1993 he began a bible-reading group. Pastor Sunday claims that his Church has more than a million believers scattered across Ukraine in more than 200 communities. In Kyiv alone he claims more than 20 churches and 20,000 members. The Church funds a rehabilitation center for detoxification and counseling for alcoholics and drug addicts, and a center for women and homeless children. There is also a soup kitchen that feeds 1,500 to 2,000 people daily.

In other news related to our Churches, All Saints Camp of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. celebrated its patron's feast day and the 25th anniversary of the camp's spiritual ministry among youth on Sunday, July 22. Several buses and hundreds of people arrived in Emlenton, Pa., the site of the camp, to share in the mutual celebration and memories that formed and continue to form generations of faithful of the UOC.

Metropolitan Constantine, Archbishop Antony and clergy from the western Pennsylvania, Penn-Ohio and New York deaneries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. celebrated divine liturgy. In his remarks, Metropolitan Constantine, the ruling hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., journeyed back 25 years to when he blessed the camp property and reflected upon the importance of the spiritual, social and national achievements of the campers and their counselors over these 25 years.

The Detroit Ukrainian Catholic Deanery, at the invitation of the Very Rev. Dean Basil Salkowski, OSBM, pastor of St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church, on June 1 hosted a special banquet in honor of the first official visit of the primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Cardinal Husar, at St. Josaphat Church Center in Warren, Mich.

The banquet was also a fund-raiser for the new informational center and Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church being built in Kyiv, Ukraine. With a capacity audience of parishioners and faithful attending, the event was opened by master of ceremonies Vasyl Kolodchin, world head of the Ukrainian Patriarchal Society, who greeted the gathering. A total of $200,000 was raised - a gift to Ukraine's Holy Resurrection Sobor project from the Detroit area Ukrainian Catholic faithful.

Not to be outdone, the New York community raised nearly $500,000 - $250,000 of the total came from the Selfreliance New York Federal Credit Union. The contribution was presented during Cardinal Husar's visit to New York City, where a reception and dinner took place on December 14. The Ukrainian Catholic primate's trip also encompassed other parishes that belong to the Stamford Eparchy, including Yonkers, N.Y., Hartford, Conn., and Albany, N.Y., which raised $100,000, $60,000 and $40,000, respectively, for the patriarchal cathedral and residence in Kyiv.

Other large donors to this project were the parishes of the Philadelphia Archeparchy ($300,000) and the community of Parma, Ohio (nearly $200,000). In addition, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States donated $325,000.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 11, 2004, No. 2, Vol. LXXII

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