FACES AND PLACES: Back to square one (03/14/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Back to square one

Ukrainian Catholics have been waiting for a very long time for the Vatican to recognize the establishment of a Ukrainian Patriarchate in Kyiv. Unfortunately, the Vatican is - my pastor will never forgive me for writing this - "playing politics."

When Ukraine was under Soviet rule, the Vatican informed us that a patriarchate was not possible because Ukraine was not an independent nation. There was no "homeland" for Ukrainian Catholics.

When Ukraine finally became an independent nation, the Vatican informed us that we couldn't have a patriarch because our bishops were not in agreement on who should be the patriarch. Two bishops were reportedly coerced by a Vatican hierarch to oppose Cardinal Josyf Slipyj's election. Pope Paul VI offered to make Cardinal Slipyj an "honorary patriarch" but the cardinal refused, saying that the title was not for him personally but for the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Now that our Ukrainian Catholic bishops have agreed that Cardinal Lubomyr Husar should be the patriarch, the Vatican is telling us that the Orthodox world is opposed, specifically Russian Patriarch Aleksei and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

On February 22, Pope John Paul II said that pontiffs have a "singular ministry" of "confirming and guiding the Church in the unity of faith." This "indispensable mission," the pope said, comes from God and he has been called to "render this particular service to the entire Christian people."

I, too, yearn for Christian unity, but I know it won't happen in my lifetime, especially between Catholics and the Russian Orthodox Church. While America is involved in the Middle East, Vladimir Putin is resurrecting the old Russian Empire and the Russian Orthodox Church is an integral part of his strategy. Both the old Russian empire and the Soviet empire were dependent on three essential clements: Orthodoxy - religious or Marxist; autocracy; and "narodnichestvo" - a kind of mystic Russian oneness similar in concept to the German Volk. Patriarch Alexei views the lands of "Mother Russia" - which include Belarus, Ukraine and Russia - as "canonical lands" not to be sullied by Catholicism, especially Ukrainian Catholicism. I want to believe that a Polish pope understands this but is being constrained by others around him.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, traveled to Moscow recently to meet with Russian Patriarch Aleksei. Discussed, of course, was the Ukrainian Catholic Patriarchate, which Cardinal Kasper made clear would never be sanctioned by the pope. This satisfied Patriarch Aleksei only temporarily. He then expressed his anger over the establishment of Catholic convents, churches and orphanages on sacred Russian soil. The Russian patriarch wants them removed and all proselytization in Russia, Catholic and Protestant, to cease.

These demands by the Moscow Patriarchate are not surprising. If the Vatican folds again, more objections to unity will be forthcoming. Patriarch Aleksei believes that it is Moscow, not Rome, that is the true center of Christianity. Moscow declared itself the third and final Rome after the fall of Constantinople. Once the Vatican accepts this view, Christian unity will be achieved.

So, dear reader, we Ukrainians are back to square one. What do we do now?

A number of options are open to us. We could do what some of our pioneer priests and laity did in the United States in 1905. Upset with the abuse married clergy were experiencing from Roman Catholic prelates and priests, they convened a conference under the banner "Away with Rome." This got Rome's attention. A Ukrainian Catholic bishop was sent here in 1907, thanks in large measure to the political pressure put on Rome by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.

Accepting this option might mean severing all ties with Rome and recognizing Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarch Filaret as the true patriarch, a dream nurtured by some Ukrainian Orthodox. Few Ukrainian Catholics, however, support this idea.

A better option was recently suggested by Father Robert Taft, S.J., of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, who told Ukraine's prelates to take two steps. "First, publicly declare the patriarchate. Second, request Roman recognition, but even if it doesn't come, refuse all mail that doesn't come addressed to the patriarchate. Don't pretend, but really do it. The secretary of state sends a letter addressed to the archbishop? We don't have any archbishop, we've got a patriarch. Send it back unopened, 'addressee unknown." You gotta love those Jesuits!

Father Taft has a wonderful plan, except for one problem. Ukrainian bishops outside of Ukraine may be united, but Ukraine's bishops may not be. Some resent the so-called "American" presence in Ukraine (priests trained in the United States) and the "Brazilian presence" (mainly Redemptorists who are establishing themselves throughout Ukraine). Like many Ukrainian-born priests, especially those who served in the underground Church, Ukrainian bishops aren't accustomed to the kind of Church discipline and order that exists in the United States and Brazil. Some even grumble about Patriarch Husar, "the American," often behind his back, occasionally publicly. Expecting Ukrainian unity on anything, let alone religious matters, is always a risky proposition.

So what's left? Our patriarch has a suggestion: prayer and fasting. What better way to commemorate Lent? We should pray and fast for the pope and for Cardinal Kasper who apparently has great influence over the pope. We can emulate our Catholic brothers and sisters in Ukraine. One they have over us is prayer. They pray more. They attend church more. We can learn from them.

We should also pray for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which also needs to unite in order to better serve the Ukrainian people.

Finally, we can respond as the Body of Christ. As the catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, "lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation; they have the right and duty individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth." No Church has a more authentic right to spread the Good News throughout the world than the martyred Church of Ukraine.

As usual, the Stamford Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy has a game plan. Involved with this initiative is Roma Hayda, who plans to inaugurate her idea soon, very soon.

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is: [email protected].

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