Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church transfers its headquarters to Kyiv (08/28/05)

Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church transfers its headquarters to Kyiv

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - More than 3,000 Ukrainian Greek-Catholics joined Cardinal Lubomyr Husar and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church's leadership on August 21 to commemorate the historic transfer of the Church's headquarters from Lviv's St. George Square to the banks of the Dnipro River in Kyiv.

Threats from Russian Orthodox radicals to stop the divine liturgy proved hollow, largely because of heavy security provided by more than 1,000 police officers and Berkut Special Forces who protected the Catholics and allowed them to take part in a worship led by Cardinal Husar, whose title now is major archbishop of Kyiv-Halych.

He delivered a sermon on the subject of Christian love - a topic appropriate for an event that drew more than 800 Russian Orthodox who yelled anti-Halychyna slurs and heckled the faithful as they entered the worship area, an outdoor altar next to the cathedral under construction.

"May our hearts feel that love of God that flowed onto this place and all the nations of Eastern Europe a thousand years ago," Cardinal Husar said. "But may it be a love that doesn't stop - one that is living, persistent, active and for us."

The divine liturgy was a milestone for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, which realized a centuries-long vision of establishing its see in Ukraine's capital city.

The Patriarchal Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection is located on the eastern side of the Dnipro, on the river's bank just opposite the Kyivan Caves Monastery (Pecherska Lavra). When completed, the cathedral is expected to be Kyiv's largest church.

Attending the ceremony were Ukrainian Catholic University Rector Borys Gudziak, Ukrainian World Congress President Askold Lozynskyj, National Deputy Andrii Shkil and Ukrainian pop star Taras Petrynenko, who performed his famous rendition of "Ukrayino" at a concert following the liturgy.

"Today the Ukrainian Greek-Catholics, who have sacrificed so much over the centuries, but particularly in the 20th century, for their spiritual freedom and for the development of the Ukrainian people, can also be in Kyiv and have a Kyiv address and be close to the font of our Christian origins," Father Gudziak said.

Father Gudziak and Father Ihumen Yevstratii Zoria, the press secretary of Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, both characterized the protesters as political provocateurs who don't represent the followers of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.

"These are not believers of the Moscow Patriarchate - these are political party members who present themselves as Orthodox Christians," Father Yevstratii said. "Orthodox Christians don't do these things because God said, 'They will recognize that you are my students because you have love within you.' "

Not all were political protesters, however, because a handful of Russian Orthodox priests participated in the protest and even held a liturgy at the protest site, on their side of the fence barricade.

The protesters began gathering two hours before the liturgy, waving flags of the Progressive Socialist Party, the Derzhava political party and Bratstvo, as well as blue and white flags symbolizing the Party of the Regions.

One young man even waved a Russian flag.

The Ukrainian Catholics were setting up an outdoor altar at the cathedral's north side. During the liturgy hundreds of worshippers even stood on sand because the cathedral is still a construction site.

As with any Kyiv construction project, a long green picket fence surrounded the cathedral's construction area.

The site's main entrance was a 10-foot-wide gap that protesters could have easily blocked, so police set up a metal fence barricade to prevent them from approaching too close.

The officers then lined up along the waist-high fence that became the conflict's front lines as the two sides debated, shouted and even scuffled with each other amidst the officers.

Kerchiefed older women were the most aggressive of the protesters, approaching the security barrier clutching icons and shouting at the Ukrainian Catholics.

"Your grandfathers and ancestors were Orthodox!" they shouted. "We are all Orthodox, and so is Russia and Belarus!"

Those phrases paled in comparison to the avalanche of slurs and chants from other protesters' such as "Banderites out of Ukraine," "Banderstad," "Fascists," "Inquisitors" and "Uniates get out."

For the most part, Ukrainian Catholics turned the other cheek. However, debates, shouting matches and minor scuffles did arise.

When one group of protesters shouted, "Banderivtsi back to Halychyna," a Ukrainian Catholic responded, "And you go to Russia."

A few Ukrainian Catholic priests approached the protesters in an attempt at dialogue.

"Come in here and let's pray together," one priest beseeched an angry "babushka."

A half-hour before the liturgy, Russian Orthodox priests began their own liturgy from megaphones installed on the back of a flatbed-like truck.

In the days leading up to the event, members of the radical political group Bratstvo vowed not to let the Ukrainian Catholic liturgy begin.

However, such threats of "excesses" proved empty as no more than 20 members of the group showed up at the event, the majority of then teenagers. Their leader, Dmytro Korchynskyi, was not even present.

The protesters made a last-ditch orchestrated attempt at stirring up conflict before the liturgy's start, and several minor scuffles erupted as a result, with some shoving and punching.

One group of protesters tried locking arms to prevent the Catholics from entering the area where the liturgy was to be celebrated.

A group of women, one of whom was wearing a "Ukraine Without Yushchenko" T-shirt, stood in front of the entrance, heckling and taunting worshippers.

One woman was in tears after walking past the hecklers.

Once the liturgy began, the protesting Orthodox priests broke their service at several intervals to allow politicians to deliver their anti-Halychyna speeches through megaphones.

The hate speech was audible during the divine liturgy, particularly when Ukrainian Catholic worshippers paused for prayer or had quiet moments, such as Cardinal Husar's sermon and the "Confession of Faith."

Natalia Vitrenko, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, and Hennadii Vasiliev, the former procurator general who founded the Derzhava Party, led the vitriol.

"They want to make us Catholic! They want to destroy our faith! They know precisely that if there is no faith, and if there is spiritual death, then there is physical death!" Ms. Vitrenko declared.

"And I want to tell the Uniates: Don't celebrate your victory," she continued. "This is your first victory, which you achieved because our government has sold itself out. You were able to seize this piece on our holy land on the Left Bank of Dnipro where no Uniate has ever dared set foot!"

Then she appeared to contradict herself: "We're not against any religion. We're not against freedom of conscience and freedom of faith. It's the opposite: we defend these ideals. But you don't have any support in central-southeastern Ukraine."

Their political attacks were not limited to western Ukrainians, but included Americans and Poles as well.

If Ukrainians lose their spirituality, then American tanks and NATO bases will take over Ukrainian lands, declared Oleh Kalashnikov, chair of the All-Military Union of Ukraine.

"Ukraine has always prided itself on the Zaporozhian Kozak," Mr. Kalashnikov said. "Can you answer who more than anyone oppressed the Kozaks? The Uniates! Who most damaged the Ukrainian peasant who wanted to live freely and independently? The liakhy [a pejorative term for Poles] and Uniates!"

Days before the liturgy, Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate, asked Pope Benedict XVI not to allow the transfer to Kyiv of Cardinal Husar, who as the UGCC's major archbishop is its primate.

The transfer "has stirred up the Orthodox Church and secular communities in Ukraine, added confusion to the already troubled Church life and provoked interconfessional and political speculations," Metropolitan Volodymyr reportedly wrote in his letter to the pontiff.

However, not all Ukrainian Orthodox were stirred up or confused.

Mr. Petrynenko is a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate who was heckled as he and his wife entered the worship area.

"They said we sold ourselves out," Mr. Petrynenko said. "And that's not true, which is why we calmly resumed walking. This is an agony of political forces. And whenever there is agony, you see what we are witnessing now."

While the Moscow Patriarchate acted combatively, representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church were present at the liturgy and even sat alongside Archbishop Husar during a concert afterwards.

"This is not the Orthodox faith," Father Yevstratii said of the protesters. "The Orthodox faith is one of love, a faith of peace and a faith that preaches that we must act with peace and love with anyone regardless of their faith, confession or national identity. This is a mockery of Orthodoxy."

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate maintains a neutral stance toward the Greek-Catholic see's transfer to Kyiv, Father Yevstratii said.

Both the UOC-KP and President Viktor Yushchenko described the Church's decision as "an internal matter." However, Father Yevstratii did add a caveat.

"We hope the Greek-Catholic Church will respect the fact that most Ukrainians are Orthodox, and Kyiv is the center of a thousand-year Orthodox tradition," Father Yevstratii said.

"We hope they won't proselytize, therefore, they won't interfere with Orthodox believers going to their Church, as a systematic program. Proselytizing was forbidden for Churches 10 years ago," he noted.

In his statement, President Yushchenko said no one had the right to tell anyone what their faith should be and where a Church should locate its head. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has the right to "determine the location of its seat," he said, adding that this is an internal Church matter.

Husar's temporary residence: a private apartment

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