FACES AND PLACES: Losten should stick around (02/05/06)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Losten should stick around

Bishop Basil Losten should stick around. We need his energy and wisdom. C'mon folks, once a bishop, always a bishop.

I know, I know. Bishop Losten turned 75 and, according to Catholic canon law, he needs to step aside to make room for a younger bishop.

With all due respect to Bishop Paul Patrick Chomnycky, who I'm certain will become a worthy successor in time, I believe Bishop Losten will be a tough act to follow. You don't become a Bishop Losten overnight!

We've had bishops and we've had bishops. Some leave a rich legacy, others, well ... you fill in the blanks.

Don't get me wrong. I love our bishops, Catholic and Orthodox alike. Bishops are pastors who shepherd and nurture their flock. They have a tough job. Most take their responsibilities very seriously. Many come to the table with special gifts, special charisms.

Some, like Catholic Bishop Emeritus Innocent Lotocky in Chicago, a saintly man, are able to heal and to ameliorate conflict in our community. Others, like Bishop Michael Wiwchar, formerly of Chicago, now in Saskatoon, are gifted administrators who are steadfast in their principles and are all about building and enlivening the Church.

My favorite Orthodox bishop was the late Bishop Mark Hundiak, a delightful man, an immigrant pioneer and a walking encyclopedia of early Ukrainian church history in America. Once the assistant pastor of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago, he joined the Orthodox Church in 1924 and helped newly arrived Bishop John Theodorovich, America's Ukrainian bishop, to build Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the United States. I had the privilege of interviewing this fascinating man for my Ph.D. dissertation while he was still a pastor in Carteret, N.J. His memory lives on.

As bishop, Basil Losten has had few peers. He is a man of unflappable good humor; his episcopacy has been a model of indefatigable Christian commitment. He is a charismatic leader who spent weekends visiting parishes to encourage priests and parishioners alike to love the Lord and, when necessary, to get off their butts.

The author of numerous theological monographs, Bishop Losten has been an enthusiastic ecumenist, an outstanding administrator and a man grounded in Catholic principle and sanctity. No cream puff, he's been tough when he's had to be, conciliatory when necessary and jolly when appropriate. Whatever he starts, he finishes. His legacy is vast. Among his many laurels is the coveted Shevchenko Freedom Award, which he received from the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America in 2004.

It was Bishop Losten who initiated The Sower, unquestionably the best Ukrainian Catholic periodical we have. Professionally edited, well-organized, and interesting to read, The Sower remains a tribute to the vision of Basil Losten.

Committed to inter-Christian dialogue, Bishop Losten is co-founder of an international ecumenical discussion group, an effort that led to his being named by Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Commission for Christian Unity.

By far the most far-reaching contribution of Bishop Losten to his beloved Ukrainian Church is the seminary in Stamford. Realizing early on the importance of training the next generation of Catholic priests in Ukraine to be competent, energetic and informed, he has staffed his seminary with the best talent available. Seminarians undergo a rigorous and demanding course of intellectual study and moral enrichment; graduates return to Ukraine eager to renew and invigorate the Body of Christ.

Basil Losten's early years were spent in Maryland where, along with his brothers, he worked in his family's modest dairy. In a tribute to Bishop Losten which appeared recently in The Sower, Msgr. Leon Mosko, mentions a memory that still sticks in the bishop's mind: "on a blizzardly day during Christmas season - when the drivers could not even make it to the dairy, Bishop Losten, still a teenager, loaded a truck and made milk run after milk run to the stores on Route 1."

"From the earliest days," explains Msgr. Mosko, a one-time classmate, "Bishop Losten was a man of action, a man who initiated and saw projects through to their realization ... The commitment to service, encouraged by his sacrificing parents and the example set by his family, has become the hallmark of his years in the priesthood and episcopacy."

Bishop Losten "firmly believes that if he and the clergy of his eparchy do not give of their all in the service of their Church, the faithful will suffer and, eventually, be lost to other, larger Churches," concludes Msgr. Mosko.

Forgive me for a slight digression here but haven't you wondered why it is that Bishop Losten never became our metropolitan? He certainly had the seniority. I've thought about it, and what I've concluded isn't pretty.

Being a Ukrainian bishop has never been easy. Ukrainians are not given to being shepherded, especially by a bishop. We can be ornery, willful, and tiresome - and that's on our good days. Take a look around your congregation this Sunday and ask yourself, are you among a group of joy-filled Christians? Would you be eager to join your church if this was your first visit? If you were a stranger, would your parish compatriots go out of their way to welcome you, or would they either totally ignore you or stare at you as if you were something the parish cat dragged in?

Word on the street has it that Bishop Losten, now an emeritus bishop, will still serve in some capacity, sharing his wisdom and his enthusiasm. No one is more familiar with the history of our Ukrainian Catholic Church during the last 50 years. No one has been more pro-active on her behalf. And no one can serve as a better mentor for our newly hatched Ukrainian bishops.

Although he richly deserves a long, comfortable retirement far from the snows of Stamford, Bishop Losten should stick around. There is much that still needs to be done. He knows the drill. There are egos to salve, fences to mend and stray sheep to be collected. No one can do it better.

Dr. Myron B. Kuropas's e-mail address is [email protected].

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