"Ukrainian-American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history (Chapter 10) (01/02/05)

THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

"Ukrainian-American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history

Following is part of a series of excerpts from "Ukrainian-American Citadel: The First 100 Years of the Ukrainian National Association," by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, published in 1996 by East European Monographs of Boulder, Colo. The excerpts are reprinted with the permission of the author.

The book is available from the author for $25, plus $2.50 shipping, by writing to: Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, 107 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115. Also available is a newly released Ukrainian edition of the book; price: $25 (including shipping).

Chapter 10

Forging New Frontiers

The 1960s were a period during which relations between the UNA and the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States, strained during the lifetime of Archbishop [Constantine] Bohachevsky, improved dramatically. Bohachevsky died in January 1961. He was succeeded as metropolitan by Ambrose Senyshyn. In March 1961, Dmytro Halychyn, the revered supreme president of the UNA, died unexpectedly, the result of a tragic accident. Hoping to breach the gulf which existed between America's two most significant Ukrainian institutions, the UNA Supreme Executive requested Metropolitan Senyshyn to participate in the funeral services of the late UNA leader. Senyshyn agreed, taking the first step toward healing the discord and misunderstanding that had existed for almost four decades.

Greater understanding was also achieved between Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholics, long at loggerheads over papal primacy and other matters. Soon after Vatican II ushered in a new spirit of ecumenism encouraging greater unity among all Christians, Pope Paul VI traveled to the Holy Land to meet with Patriarch Athenagoras, signaling greater cooperation between the two largest Christian denominations Foreshadowing this development was the meeting of Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Joseph Schmondiuk and Ukrainian Orthodox Bishop Mstyslav Skrypnyk at the 1962 UNA convention. Messages of greetings were also received from the heads of both Ukrainian Churches in America, Metropolitan Senyshyn and Metropolitan John Theodorovych of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. From that moment on, relations between the UNA and all Ukrainian religious denominations remained warm and mutually supportive. In 1963 a new Catholic chapel at Soyuzivka was blessed by Bishop Schmondiuk, and grounds reserved for an Orthodox chapel were blessed by Metropolitan Mstyslav as was a statue of Ivan Mazepa by sculptor Serhiy Lytwynenko.

A high point in UNA-Catholic relations was reached in 1968 with the visit of Archbishop-Major Josyf Cardinal Slipyj to North America. Editorializing on the historic event, The Ukrainian Weekly described the magnificent welcome he received in Toronto as an affirmation of "the deep reverence and vast esteem which he enjoys among Ukrainians of all backgrounds, all professions and all walks of life. A symbol of both a suffering nation kept in chains and the indomitable spirit that keeps its hopes alive, the primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church is the embodiment of all our dreams and aspirations."

Reconciliation with the Ukrainian Catholic Church in America did not mean always agreeing with its leadership. Risking opprobrium, The Ukrainian Weekly came out in favor of a Ukrainian Patriarchate, an institution allegedly resisted by Metropolitan Senyshyn and other Ukrainian American bishops. Acknowledging that the matter had been "passionately debated in the Ukrainian diaspora" The Ukrainian Weekly declared:

"The establishment of the Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has a vital meaning, not only from a purely ecclesiastical point of view, but also in the complex of strivings to a national identity and autonomy of the Ukrainian state. It must be considered in both lights. We underscore this, because to some it appears that bringing this matter out for direct consideration will cause complications for many, including the Vatican itself This cannot be a valid argument. All our strivings bring with them complications for someone - sometimes not only for our foes but also for our friends. Must we be inhibited by this? Of course not! For 'complications' for others are but a temporary state, insignificant when compared with the slavery in which our people live."

On August 8 Cardinal Slipyj visited Soyuzivka where he addressed "a throng of 1,500 UNA officers, employees, vacationers, guests and well-wishers who waited patiently for more than two hours." Speaking at the chapel "nestled serenely in a wooded glade," The Ukrainian Weekly reported on August 17, the cardinal declared "that of all the places that he has seen on this prolonged journey through Canada and the United States, Soyuzivka is perhaps the most beautiful."

The future of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States was also debated in The Ukrainian Weekly. In an article titled "No Idle Prattle," Mychaijlo Dorechnyj argued that the Ukrainian Catholic Church in America cannot and should not exist for the reason of either preserving the Ukrainian language, establishing a Ukrainian sub-society in Arnerica, or furthering and supporting the political aspirations of a non-American group or nation. ... It should be, rather, the apostolate of the Ukrainian Catholic Rite in America to assist Ukrainians in America, through reasonable utilization of Ukrainian and religious and cultural traditions, in being assimilated into the American society in order that they might become vital instruments of Christianization in America.

UNA Supreme Advisor Myron B. Kuropas disagreed, and in a series of articles arguing in favor of biculturalism and the ideals of pluralism, he warned against making the same mistakes the Ukrainian Catholic Church made in the 1920s when it appeared to many to be a vehicle of Latinization.

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