Interview with Cardinal Lubomyr Husar
Mar 29, 2008
"Our patriarchate can be, within our unfortunately divided Kyivan Church, a very strong ecumenical instrument that would be leading towards the consciousness of the entire Church, for unity"
Interview conducted in Lviv, 26 January 2004
by Antoine ARJAKOVSKY, professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University
(risu.org.ua) Antoine Arjakovsky: Your Eminence, in the interview you gave to the magazine 30 Giorni you explain the reasons for the transfer of your Cathedral See from Lviv to Kyiv. Three arguments are: that there are 600,000 Greek Catholics in eastern Ukraine; the history of your church that in 1596 was historically in Kyiv; and that this is the capital of Ukraine and the other religions in Ukraine are also represented in Kyiv. And in the end of the interview, you add an argument: you say that the main reproach against us is that we don't link church and nation. Does this mean that your ecclesiology is more eucharistic than territorial and national?
Lubomyr Husar: “Canonical territory” is a very old principle among Christians. Practically from the beginning it was always stated there should be only one bishop for one territory, which I think is perfectly reasonable. It's very Christian, it's very traditional. It has, however, one defect. Not the idea itself. We have the defect. The idea is perfect: a bishop, who is the father of all the Christians in a particular area, is supposed to take care of all of them no matter what their language, their culture. The assumption is, and the reality was at the beginning of Christian centuries, that all these people have one faith. And the bishop as the good father, without having huge territory but maybe one city territory, a manageable territory, would take care of all of them. But today we cannot apply this principle.
AA: Why not?
LH: Because we are not anymore one Church. We are a divided Church. Let's take the example of Germany . We have Catholics and we have Lutherans. They are very different. Will it be possible for one bishop to take care of all of them? In Eastern Europe today, Orthodox and Greek Catholics are much closer to one another, because, as I see it, we do have one faith. Even though it is frequently said that we do differ in our faith, but I don't think this is true. But, however, the Patriarchate of Moscow, for example, and our Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine differ. We are not anymore one Church. We are two churches, distinct churches. And because of that we do have, practically, two canonical territories. We cannot speak anymore of one canonical territory. Because the difference is so fundamental between us, up to today, that I don't know any one bishop who would be able to take equally care of people who do and who do not have the Pope of Rome as the visible center of the Universal Church . So the application of the old principle does not go.
AA: What would be the ideal situation today?
LH: I speak as a Catholic without wishing to impose my vision on anybody. Even if I belong to the Orthodox, in the sense of Byzantine, tradition, I am, at the same time, in communion with the Bishop of Rome. In this sense I am in eucharistic communion. I want to underline this. I will give you a very concrete example. What does this communion mean? We have in the city of Lviv Cardinal Jaworski , a Latin rite bishop. And I am an Eastern rite bishop. And yet we can concelebrate. Because we are in communion with one another, being in communion with the Bishop of Rome. I share with my Orthodox brother Metropolitan Vladimir of Kyiv the same liturgical, spiritual, theological tradition, and yet we cannot concelebrate. Because we are not in the same communion. This lets us understand that we are not really one Church in each other's eyes. So the application of canonical territory, in this situation of division, is not applicable.
AA: On 29 November 2003 , the Pope received a letter from Patriarch Bartholomew in response to a letter of Cardinal Kasper addressed to Patriarch Alexis. Cardinal Kasper justified the recognition of the [UGCC] patriarchate by the canons that establish the patriarchal law in the Church at the 4 th Council of Chalcedon in 451. Patriarch Bartholomew refuses this approach and invokes the Council of Constantinople of 879-880 and speaks of the inviolability of the limits of patriarchal traditional sees. But the metropolitanate of Kyiv, of which your see is the inheritor, however, signed the act of union with Rome at the Council of Florence in 1439 with Constantinople . And your church, on the contrary to Moscow and Constantinople , has never revoked it. Isn't this the reason of discord with Patriarch Bartholomew, who doesn't accept the possibility for your church to become a patriarchate?
LH: I have great difficulties understanding his argumentation. We have, we had very close relationships with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Because it is through this patriarchate that Christianity officially came into what today is Ukraine . However, his argumentation to me is not very clear. There is not the least doubt that patriarchates in the course of history have been erected, created and recognized in very different ways. The old classical way was that the ecumenical council, one of those original great seven councils, acknowledged the existence of certain patriarchates. This was the first millenium. In the course of the second millenium the situation is very different. And when we come to today it is still more different.
AA: In what sense?
LH: In the course of the second millennium, several patriarchates were established within the Orthodox Church and within the Catholic Church. In the Orthodox Church, Moscow , and more recently Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and other patriarchates. They have been established not by an ecumenical council…
AA: …but by a mother church…
LH: …By a mother church, which has acknowledged their existence, but not by ecumenical council, because there was not an ecumenical council in the Orthodox Church in the second millennium. There is a desire to have one, but it has not materialized.
In the Catholic Church, taking the position of the Bishop of Rome, Vatican Council II has said that patriarchates, within the Catholic Church, within the Eastern tradition, the Byzantine tradition, but not exclusively (because there is, for example, the [Syro-] Malabar Church [of India], which is not Byzantine), should be established. Who can establish them? Classically, the ecumenical council. But should we wait for an ecumenical council to be called before a patriarchate can be recognized or erected? Ideally speaking, maybe so. But life goes on and we don't know when the next ecumenical council will take place. This Ecumenical Council (Vatican II) said: “Let there be patriarchates established.” If there is an ecumenical council, it would be competent to do it. But if there is not one and there is need to establish one [a patriarchate], let the Pope do it himself with the mandate of the Ecumenical Council as being the responsible person within the Catholic Church to do such things. It is not something that he is ascribing to himself as if he was an absolute ruler. He is acting within the Church as the one who is responsible, who can do it within the Catholic framework of thinking, having not only his own desire or will, but having behind him the mandate of the Ecumenical Council. And this mandate of the Ecumenical Council has been repeated in the Code of Canon Law. The Pope himself in his very recent apostolic instruction for the bishops speaks again: “Patriarchates should be established.” Because he is interested in doing what the Ecumenical Council has desired and established. So it is not, as somebody may think, an act of human fancy. No, he is working within the framework of the life of churches within which he himself is a very important part.
So, yes, the first five great patriarchates have been established by the ecumenical councils. But so many other existing ones were not. There is maybe one more element to it. I feel that too much is being made of the patriarchate. As if this were something exceptional. To my mind, a patriarchate is a normal form of existence in the Eastern Byzantine tradition. It is simply a development of church structure. And I don't feel that it ought to be overplayed. We don't desire it simply as a prestige or reward for our suffering or our martyrs. We look upon it as a pastoral instrument, and secondly as an ecumenical instrument. Because we feel that our patriarchate can be, within our unfortunately divided Kyivan Church , a very strong ecumenical instrument that would be leading towards the consciousness of the entire Church, for unity. It does not mean that all have to become Greek Catholics. It means that we all have to come to the original unity in which our church was, even though it is a unity that, as it was originally, is also in communion with the successor of Saint Peter.
So the situation is a bit overplayed. We do not look upon it as something extraordinary. According to canon law and according to this latest papal document, it is simply the normal way it ought to be.
The idea of patriarchates for the Western Church has been spoken of during the Second Vatican Council. But I think that the Western Church is not ready for it. Even though we should never forget that the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope of Rome, is the Patriarch of the West. And this traditional title has never been cancelled.
AA: On 20 January 2004, Patriarch Alexis declared to the Agency France-Press AFP that in Ukraine “hundreds of thousands of Orthodox believers are a persecuted minority” and there is “expansion of the Greek Catholic Church in the south and the east of Ukraine,” that the majority of Ukrainians will not accept erection of a Greek Catholic patriarchate. So what is your reaction? It is quite tragic that last year Alexis did not recognized the fact that in 1945 the Greek Catholic Church was abolished by the Soviet State with the help of the Russian Orthodox Church. I suppose that it is difficult for you to talk to someone who thirteen years after the end of the Soviet Union still does not recognize the tragedy of your church. How is it possible to have a dialogue with Moscow in these conditions?
LH: The situation is very complex. Let us clarify it step by step. In the 18 th and 19 th centuries (and unfortunately it remained in the 20th century), it was said that you cannot be a true Ukrainian, you cannot be a true Russian, unless you are Orthodox confessionally. And inverted: a true Orthodox is Russian or Ukrainian or Greek, or is Serbian, or somebody else. That means an identification in this sense as if these two concepts were integrally and maybe ontologically connected. Our existence is a denial of this. In the sense that we are Ukrainians, we are Christians, we are of the Eastern tradition, and we also are in communion with the Apostolic See of Rome. That means that being in this communion does not make us less Ukrainian, less Christian, less Orthodox in the sense of the Byzantine tradition. This has always been unthinkable for the Patriarchate of Moscow and for many other Orthodox churches. And I think it is excessive. And that should be overcome.
Secondly, we have the situation of 1946. The Soviet government under a direct order from Stalin liquidates our church. I do not wish to make a general condemnation, because it is for us, who have not been directly in the Soviet system, not easy to understand and to speak from the experience of what it means to be under the Soviet system.
AA: You were born in 1933?
LH: Yes, but I left the Soviet Union in 1944. I didn't live in the worst, darkest years. However, the fact is that the Russian Orthodox Church was used as an instrument in this liquidation and, unfortunately, to some extent, certainly collaborated, willingly or not willingly I do not enter into this. Let God judge. I do not judge because times were very difficult. The facts are, however, such. The Soviet government gave to the Patriarchate of Moscow a great number or churches. It was the only church that was permitted to exist. People who wanted to go to church had to go to the Russian Orthodox Church. And many did go. In 1989, the Soviet government permits the Greek Catholic Church to register again. And then in 1990 and 1991, many of those communities that went to the Russian Orthodox Church said: “There is no need for us anymore. Let us be what we were before, Greek Catholic.” And over one thousand communities registered as Greek Catholic. Then there were difficulties about church buildings. Some of these difficulties have remained up to today.
AA: How many churches are still discussed?
LH: I would say that in western Ukraine there are over 300 localities that are in conflict.
AA: With the Moscow Patriarchate?
LH: Especially with the [Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the] Patriarchate of Kyiv and the [Ukrainian] Autocephalous [Orthodox] Church. There is none with Moscow in the Lviv region, for example. I would say that there are about 25 localities where conflicts are pretty strong.
AA: Can we speak about a religious war?
LH: Absolutely not. I think that to speak about persecutions is very unjust. However, I can understand the Russian Orthodox Church. They were here for 45 years. And when the opportunity came, people went away from them. That means a real pastoral failure. These people have not remained Orthodox. It is a wound for the Russian Orthodox Church which is very difficult to heal.
AA: But is there any hope for mutual re-discovery?
LH: You see, from our part, my immediate predecessor, Cardinal Lubachivsky, proposed to the Russian Orthodox Church that we forgive one another. Our people, even if they have suffered much, even if many of them don't like the word “Orthodox,” have no real hatred against the Russian Orthodox. I myself was celebrating in a locality in which on the same Sunday Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan (head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church) was consecrating a new Orthodox church. There was absolutely no opposition from the Greek Catholics. The people said: “They built it, let them have it.” The conflicts are when there is a church that was ours but is not ours any more. The government has given such a church to the Orthodox of the Patriarchate of Moscow or the Patriarchate of Kyiv and let them keep it. So our attitude is not the desire to fight, to take vengeance. I can speak very freely that our basic attitude is to gladly be friends with Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox. There is real hope. There is a declaration of the Patriarchate of Moscow which has not been sufficiently appreciated. The Patriarch of Moscow, speaking to Christians of Russian tradition in Western Europe, has admitted that the Patriarchate of Moscow during Soviet times did not conduct itself in an exemplary manner but gave in to the government.
AA: When did he say that?
LH: Last year he wrote a letter to émigré Russians who want to establish a Russian metropolitanate in Western Europe depending on the Patriarchate of Moscow. And I think that it is a very interesting thing that he and those around him have realized that it has not always been very good. To me this is a good sign. There is a recognition that in the past, for the reason of human weakness, there has been incorrect conduct which ought to be levelled out. So I do not lose hope that sooner or later the Moscow Patriarchate will realize that nobody is perfect. It paves the road for mutual understanding, for a Christian attitude towards one another.
AA: Do you address the same words of mutual forgiveness of Cardinal Lubachivsky to Patriarch Alexis and to the Russian Church today?
LH: Yes, absolutely. We are always ready, even if they have never wished it up to today, for this act of mutual forgiveness.
AA: I can understand that the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan, can suppose that, because you are now in Kyiv, you can demand main places of the Orthodox tradition, like the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves, the monastery of Pochaiv, and other churches. They can be afraid of that. Because you are very popular and you have chosen to use Ukrainian as the liturgical language. What kind of guarantees can you give to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church? What are your criteria to say that this church does not belong to you?
LH: There are certain churches, certain sanctuaries, which are national goods, which belong to Ukraine. Our position is this. Somebody has to take care of them. The Greek Catholic Church absolutely does not pretend to take over the Caves or the Pochaiv Monastery. Let the Moscow Patriarchate take care of that. But it is not their property. They are the caretakers of national sanctuaries. These are not sanctuaries that belong to them to the exclusion of others. Why cannot we come there? We cannot buy candles in the Monastery of the Caves? Why are we excluded? We have no pretence to say that it has to be ours. Since they are there, we accept this fact. But let the government not permit the Moscow Patriarchate to privatize these places and say: This is our property. Because it is the property of the Ukrainian nation, of which they are guardians in such a way as to let us and others come to visit and appreciate their spiritual goods.
AA: But a Greek Catholic can freely pray today in the Caves of Kyiv?
LH: Yes, if he is not recognized. But I cannot come into the store and buy candles in the monastery. I will be asked: Are you Greek Catholic? And they will not sell it.
AA: Let's speak of the international dialogue about the Greek Catholic Church. In Balamand (1993) the joint Catholic-Orthodox commission – to which the Greek Catholic Church was not called - on the one side has condemned Uniatism understood as a form of proselytism and on the other side has recognized the existence of the Greek Catholic Church as a church. What is your position concerning this resolution and how do you see the future today, because the international discussion was interrupted in Baltimore in 2000?
LH: If we take Uniatism in this classical way of trying to re-establish unity, we as well do not accept it. We were tricked into it. It was not the intention of our bishops at the end of the 16th century. But this was the political situation within the Polish kingdom of that time. And it was also the theological understanding of the Latin Church after the Council of Trent. But this is the past. And we would not like to have Uniatism used anymore as a way of establishing unity. However, we are a fact and our existence cannot be denied. Patriarch Bartholomew in his letter to the Pope says that he ought to do everything to diminish the Greek Catholic Church. What right does he have to say this? We are here. We have made this choice. If I were today faced with this situation of 400 years ago, I would certainly not choose the way in which it resulted at that time. Metropolitan Sheptytsky, my predecessor, in 1942 said very explicitly in letters to the Orthodox: This is not the way that we would like to conduct ourselves today. So he has in this sense condemned this way and we would not use it today. But we are children of the past, for which we are not responsible. But we are what we are. And one cannot tell us: Disappear! Become Latin or convert to the Orthodox confession! We wish to be Orthodox in the sense of being of this tradition. We have not always been very faithful to it. I think we have lost something on the way, which we have to regain. But we also wish to remain in communion with the Pope of Rome as the successor of Saint Peter, as the symbol of unity. We hope and we wish that all churches would be in this communion. And we consider, even if it is not through our own merit, that we could be a good example of what it means to be Catholic in the sense of being in communion with the successor of Peter and not losing in any way our religious or national identity.
AA: But the Orthodox are saying that you were latinized in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. What are the guarantees in the 21st century that you will not lose freedom?
LH: It is true that we have been latinized. And this is the great merit of Metropolitan Sheptytsky at the beginning of the 20th century: that he tried to reverse this process. Personally, I consider myself a follower of Metropolitan Sheptytsky, together with many others who would like to get rid of all that has illegally entered into our spiritual, theological, liturgical, canonical heritage. We were told: If you want to be a real Catholic, you have to be Latin. And they pushed us into it. And it is only with Metropolitan Sheptytsky that we could say: Dear brothers from Rome, one can be Catholic without being Latin. And we were attacked on two fronts, Catholic-Latin and Orthodox-Byzantine. And we said: No, dear brothers, one can be Ukrainian, one can be Byzantine, one can be at the same time Catholic. These different elements do not contradict one another. So this is why neither the Latin Church nor the Orthodox Church is very happy with us.
AA: What are the conditions to have eucharistic communion between the believers of the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church? Is it necessary to have the same theology of marriage, of filioque , of purgatory?
LH: No. Our attitude practically is that between the Orthodox and ourselves there are no differences in faith. Questions like purgatory, the Immaculate Conception or the filioque are theological concepts, not faith. And they of course are very different, but they are ultimately complementary. So they do not represent a different faith. They represent a different understanding of the gift of faith. What is our practical stand on intercommunion? If a Catholic finds himself in a position where there is no Catholic church around, he can freely go to the Orthodox church and receive sacraments. The same thing when an Orthodox cannot find an Orthodox priest, we don't deny him the sacraments, especially confession and holy Communion. The only problem is the scandal that it means, not to give the impression that it doesn't make a difference what you are. You are what you are. But the circumstances are such that you are in need and we are open to help you or to being helped.
Fin de celibato no es solución a escasez sacerdotal
Jan 04, 2008
En una entrevista concedida a Fabrizio Contessa, de la edición diaria en italiano de L'Osservatore Romano, el Cardenal ucraniano Lubomyr Husar advirtió que suprimir el celibato obligatorio para los sacerdotes no es una solución al bajo número de vocaciones sacerdotales.
ROMA, 04 Ene. 08 / 06:03 am (ACI).- Según explica Contessa, el testimonio del Cardenal Husar es especialmente importante porque el Purpurado es el líder de la Iglesia de rito Greco-Católico en Ucrania, un rito que contempla la posibilidad de ordenar a hombres casados como sacerdotes.
El Cardenal ha proclamado el año 2008 como el "Año de la vocación cristiana". "Hemos procurado no limitarnos a las vocaciones a la vida religiosa y al sacerdocio, sino que estamos, apuntando al concepto cristiano de la vocación. Y esto es porque hemos notado, tanto en la vida familiar como en la religiosa, una grave inestabilidad", explica el Purpurado ucraniano.
"Entre aquellos que se casan –agrega– muchísimos se separan. Y también entre aquellos que ingresan a los monasterios y a las congregaciones, incluso después de haber realizado su profesión, piden ser dispensados. Nosotros queremos apuntar a una estabilidad de la vocación".
Preguntado sobre la razón de la crisis de vocaciones, el Cardenal Husar señaló que "pueden existir muchas respuestas. Ahora incluso son los padres los que se oponen, no permitiendo a sus hijos ingresar a los monasterios o a las congregaciones religiosas. Por otro lado, los sacerdotes predican muy poco, ya sea sobre la vocación en general, pero sobre todo sobre la vocación sacerdotal y religiosa".
El Purpurado explicó también que "con el contacto con el mundo occidental, nuestra gente en vez de tomar los elementos más preciosos, ha tomado los peores elementos que llegan a nosotros a través de las películas y la televisión".
Sin embargo, reveló también que tras la caída del comunismo, muchos optaron por la vocación sacerdotal porque resultaba una opción cómoda, "por eso la caída de vocaciones, por lo menos en una parte, es consecuencia de un discernimiento más atento de parte de los rectores y los educadores".
Preguntado sobre si la supresión del celibato sacerdotal podría solucionar el bajo número de vocaciones en el rito latino, el Cardenal Husar explicó que "pienso que se equivoca quien piensa que el problema de las vocaciones se pueda resolver con la ordenación de personas casadas. Esto no asegura un número importante de vocaciones. Yo provengo de una familia sacerdotal: mi abuelo era sacerdote y también otros miembros de la familia eran sacerdotes, algunos eran casados (según el rito greco-católico) y otros no".
Al respecto, el Cardenal explicó que la caída de vocaciones también se ha registrado en el campo de los sacerdotes casados, de tal manera que el desafío sigue siendo la recuperación "del sentido de la vocación cristiana en general".
Nach den Wahlen, wie weiter?
Oct 03, 2007
Nach den Wahlen in der Ukraine herrscht immer noch Unklarheit, wer die neue Regierung bilden darf und wird. Derzeit sei es so, dass staatliche Kräfte die Kirchen zu instrumentalisieren versuchten.
(Radio Vatikan, 03/10/2007) Das sagt der griechisch-katholische Großerzbischof von Kiew und Halytsch, Kardinal Lubomyr Husar. Da es in der Ukraine gleich drei orthodoxe und eine griechisch-katholische Kirchen gibt, die über den Kirchenbesitz diskutieren, möchten politische Kräfte diese Situation ausnützen. Die griechisch-katholische Kirche habe eine Kooperation mit den Machthabern stets abgelehnt, sagt Kardinal Husar:
„Und darum ist unser heutiges Anliegen, mit dem Staat zu verhandeln, damit wir mindestens das Kirchengebäude zurückbekommen und dann vielleicht noch das dazugehörige Pfarrhaus oder Schulen. Wir haben keine Hoffnung, dass uns Grundbesitz zurückgegeben wird. Doch der Staat muss diese Lücke auf irgendeine Art füllen, also Ersatz leisten, wie dies beispielsweise in Italien geschah.“
Trotz politischer Unklarheit schaut Kardinal Husar positiv auf die Zukunft. Nachwuchssorgen kennt die griechisch-katholische Kirche in der Ukraine nicht: In den Seminaren studieren derzeit rund 800 Nachwuchspriester. Viele von ihnen sollen nicht nur Pfarreien leiten, sondern auch in Schulen unterrichten.
„Was wir jetzt vorhaben, ist, dass wir jedem Priester eine pädagogische Ausbildung anbieten. Damit sollen die Priester die Möglichkeit haben, in den staatlichen Schulen arbeiten zu können, und zwar nicht nur als Religionslehrer, sondern auch in anderen Fächer wie Geschichte oder Literatur. Ohne diese pädagogische Ausbildung können sie nicht angestellt werden.“
Die griechisch-katholische „unierte“ Kirche in der Westukraine war in stalinistischer Zeit bei der Pseudosynode in Lemberg 1946 mit der russisch-orthodoxen Kirche zwangsvereinigt worden. Doch viele „Unierte“ gingen in den Untergrund. Zahlreiche Bischöfe wurden inhaftiert, einzig Josyf Slipyj wurde 1963 freigelassen und nach Rom ausgewiesen. Erst 1990 konnte der Nachfolger Slipys, Kardinal Myroslaw Lubatschiwskyj, wieder nach Lemberg zurückkehren.
In 1st intra-church dispute over church building, Ukrainian cardinals seek resolution
Jul 24, 2007
Ukraine's Eastern-rite cardinal has written his Latin-rite counterpart in an effort to resolve what church sources say is the first intra-Catholic dispute over a church building.
WARSAW, Poland (CNS, 7/23/2007) – Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, an Eastern rite, wrote Latin-rite Cardinal Marian Jaworski of Lviv, Ukraine, after Latin Catholics claimed they were kicked out of a church by Eastern Catholics.
"Greek (Eastern) Catholics are only conducting their services temporarily in this church," Cardinal Husar said in a letter to Cardinal Jaworski. "I will ensure understanding between nations, especially when they belong to the same universal church, is not just an empty slogan, but a genuine reality."
Most of Lviv's Latin Catholics are of Polish descent.
Extracts from Cardinal Husar's letter were published July 19 by Poland's Catholic information agency, KAI, which also published a July 7 letter from Cardinal Jaworski to Cardinal Husar complaining about the alleged seizure of the Mother of God and Lord's Presentation Church in Lviv.
Cardinal Jaworski said Eastern Catholics had "offended the religious and national feelings" of Latin Catholics by barring them from the building.
"There's no Greek (Eastern) Catholic parish at this church -- just a small group of faithful and two priests who are causing the conflicts," Cardinal Jaworski told Cardinal Husar in the letter. "If further disputes are to be avoided, Greek Catholics should now give the church up to Latin-rite faithful."
Auxiliary Bishop Marian Buczek, who works with Cardinal Jaworkski in Lviv, told Catholic News Service July 13 that Latin-rite Catholics had been barred from the church in early July, when Ukrainian Catholics suddenly replaced the altar with an iconostasis, which is a partition or screen, decorated with icons, that separates the sanctuary from the rest of the church. He added that Ukrainian Catholics already used four other local Latin-rite churches, which his own church was unable to maintain.
"As in any family, our relations with Greek Catholics are usually manageable. But someone clearly wants to set Catholics apart by provoking this scandal and stirring up conflicts between us. They don't need this (church), and few Greek Catholics even want to pray in it," Bishop Buczek said.
The 17th-century baroque church, serving Lviv's Catholic seminary, was used as an exhibition hall under Soviet rule and was given to Eastern-rite Catholics by the regional government after Ukraine's 1991 independence.
In December 2002, after a 10-year campaign, Latin-rite Catholics were allowed to begin celebrating Masses in the church.
Ukraine's Latin-rite Catholic Church has 870 parishes, compared to the 3,386 parishes of the larger Ukrainian Catholic Church.
El Cardenal Husar celebró misa en la iglesia de San Vladimiro de Posadas
Mar 04, 2007
Su Beatitud Lubomyr Husar fue recibido en el aeropuerto por el vicegobernador. En diálogo con El Territorio dijo que quiere agradecer por la ayuda que los ucranianos de la Argentina brindaron a su país en tiempos difíciles.
(territoriodigital.com, 4 de Marzo de 2007) Posadas. Con un protocolo especial y como invitado de honor de la provincia, ayer a las 18.25 fue recibido en el aeropuerto local el Patriarca de la comunidad católica ucraniana de la provincia de Misiones, Su Beatitud Cardenal Lubomyr Husar, quien llegó junto a tres obispos miembros del sínodo permanente. En el lugar lo esperaron religiosos locales, que lo recibieron con aplausos y mucha alegría de tener a la máxima autoridad católica ucraniana en la provincia.
La visita de Husar es para conocer mejor e interiorizarse de la situación pastoral y cultural en la que se encuentran los ucranianos y sus descendientes en este bendito suelo argentino.
El patriarca Lubomyr Husar es la cabeza de la Iglesia Católica Ucraniana, con sede en Kiev, capital de Ucrania. La Iglesia Ucraniana a causa de la feroz persecución religiosa, esparció a sus hijos por todos los rincones del mundo. Así es que en la Argentina residen aproximadamente 300 mil ucranianos entre católicos, ortodoxos y otras denominaciones.
El plantel de los obispos que acompañan al Patriarca está integrado por el Arzobispo de Filadelfia y Metropolita de Estados Unidos, Stefan Soroka; los obispos: Volodymyr Juszczak, obispo de Wroclaw, Polonia y Michael Hrynchyshyn, obispo de Francia y Países Bajos. Ellos realizarán reuniones sinodales en Misiones.
Mensaje a los ucranianos
Poco después de haber pisado el suelo misionero, Husar se encontró con el vicegobernador de la provincia, Pablo Juan Tschirch, quien le dio la bienvenida junto a religiosos locales. También recibió a la prensa local y en la oportunidad mencionó que quiere “agradecer por la ayuda que los ucranianos de Argentina, en tiempos muy difíciles, han brindado a nuestro país. Queremos conocer cuales son sus alegrías y también cuales son sus tristezas y sufrimientos para saber que podemos hacer por este pueblo, para que sean ellos mismos y además sean un aporte a la cultura argentina”.
Y agregó: “Deseamos que todos los ucranianos, independientemente de cuando hayan arribado a la Argentina, conserven con mucha fidelidad nuestros valores espirituales y culturales que les transmitieron sus padres, para que ellos vivan con eso, pero que estén dispuestos a compartir con el medio ambiente donde vive. Yo les pediría que sean ustedes mismos, no tengan miedo de compartir sus valores con los demás ciudadanos de Misiones”.
Calendario de actividades
En el programa a desarrollar por el párroco estuvieron previstas celebraciones y reuniones en Buenos Aires, desde el 28 de febrero hasta el 2 de marzo inclusive.
Para ayer estaban previstas las visitas protocolares al gobernador de la provincia, Carlos Rovira, y al obispo de la diócesis latina de Posadas, Monseñor Juan Rubén Martínez.
También se realizaron reuniones con sacerdotes y religiosas de la comunidad ucraniana del NEA y por la noche, a las 20, su Beatitud Lubomyr, con ocho obispos presentes, celebró la solemne Divina Liturgia Pontifical en la iglesia pro-catedral San Vladimiro de Posadas, seguida de un banquete y un acto cultural en el salón parroquial, donde se presentará una obra de teatro alusiva al primer sacerdote estable en la Argentina, padre Ivan Seneshyn, quien trabajó solo en la inmensa mies en este bendito suelo misionero durante 15 años, hasta entregar su vida a los 42 años de edad; seguidamente actuará el Ballet de la Asociación Ucraniana 27 de Agosto de Posadas.
Hoy a las 9.30 el Patriarca celebrará la solemne Divina Liturgia Pontifical en Apóstoles, en tanto los demás obispos, visitarán las distintas parroquias de: Alem, Jardín América, Paraguay, Oberá, y otras localidades del interior.
Por la tarde del día domingo, visitarán la localidad de Andresito, donde se realizará el cierre de las deliberaciones sinodales y concluirá la visita pastoral a la Argentina de Su Beatitud Husar.
Visita del cardenal de los ucranios
Feb 15, 2007
Entre los días 28 de febrero y el 3 de marzo visitará la Argentina el cardenal Lubomyr Husar, arzobispo mayor de Kyiv-Halyc y jefe de la Iglesia Grego-Católica Ucrania, acompañado por los obispos miembros del Sínodo Permanente de dicha Iglesia, , según se informó oficialmente.
Buenos Aires, 14 Feb. 07 (AICA) El purpurado ucranio arribará el miércoles 28 de febrero, a las 10, al aeropuerto internacional de Ezeiza y tiene prevista una reunión a las 15 con el Sínodo Permanente. Tras recibir en audiencia a los sacerdotes que atienden las parroquias de la Eparquía en Buenos Aires, a las 19 presidirá una Solemne Divina Liturgia Pontifical en la Catedral Católica Ucrania Santa María del Patrocinio, Ramón Falcón 3960.
El jueves 1 de marzo, visitará a las autoridades políticas de la Argentina. A las 15, recibirá a las religiosas ucranias y a delegaciones cívico-culturales ucranias locales. En tanto, a las 19 los obispos del Sínodo Permanente celebrarán liturgias simultáneas en las parroquias bonaerenses del Espíritu Santo (Llavallol), Santa Olga (Villa Adelina), Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Berisso), San Miguel Arcángel (San Miguel), Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro (Sarandí) y Virgen de la Ternura (Haedo).
El viernes 2 de marzo continuará con las visitas de cortesía a autoridades y recibirá a comunidades religiosas y culturales ucranias, y al día siguiente, partirá desde el aeroparque Jorge Newbery hacia Posadas, provincia de Misiones, donde residen importantes núcleos de fieles ucranios.
Il Cardinale Husar vede nell’identità cristiana il punto di contatto tra l’UE e l’Ucraina
Nov 30, 2006
Secondo il Cardinale Lubomyr Husar, guida della Chiesa greco-cattolica ucraina, l’identità cristiana è ciò che unisce l’Ucraina all’Unione Europea.
BRUXELLES, giovedì, 30 novembre 2006 (ZENIT.org).- “Il nostro popolo condivide con il resto dell’Europa le sue radici cristiane. Secondo me, è per questo che desidera entrare nell’UE”, ha confidato il porporato a un rappresentante di “Aiuto alla Chiesa che Soffre” (ACS) durante un incontro celebrato il 28 novembre a Bruxelles e organizzato dalla Commissione delle Conferenze Episcopali Europee.
“Senza i valori cristiani, l’Ucraina si smembrerebbe”, ha aggiunto.
Riflettendo sulle amare esperienze del suo Paese durante il Nazismo e il Comunismo, il Cardinal Husar ha detto: “La nostra storia mostra chiaramente che la giustizia deve essere la base del nostro Stato e anche dell’Europa”.
In questo senso, si è mostrato animato dal fatto che la “rivoluzione arancione” abbia portato in modo pacifico la democrazia in Ucraina. “Ora siamo disposti a dare e a ricevere”, ha affermato.
Il motivo dell’incontro di Bruxelles è stato la commemorazione della fame del 1932-33 in Ucraina, provocata artificialmente da Stalin per spezzare la resistenza dei contadini ucraini. Si stima che abbia provocato 10 milioni di morti.
For this red hat, the future's orange
Mar 29, 2006
As a leader of Catholics in a place regarded by the Orthodox Church as its own territory,
Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev holds one of the most sensitive offices in the Church.
Rocco Palmo finds him to be an expert in the discovery of common ground
(The Tablet, 11 March 2006) When I was ushered into the small chapel of the rectory of Philadelphia's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to meet Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev, I found His Beatitude (the patriarchal style, which he prefers over the Roman "Eminence") seated in prayer. The head of the 5.5 million-strong Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, on a visit to his Church's American base, was humbly dressed in an open cardigan, slacks and an open-collared shirt. No episcopal ring was in sight and a wooden Byzantine cross hung from a simple cord around his neck. In a prince of the Church - especially one visiting a part of the American Church where the cardinalate has a reputation, not entirely undeserved, for being hostile to the press and not at all averse to the sump tuousness that comes with the office - this grandfatherly appearance and demeanour was refreshing.
As we talked, Cardinal Husar kept using the phrase "in my mind" to preface his answers. The 73-year-old is not afraid to speak that mind, whether he's touching on his country's political situation in the wake of the 2004 Orange Revolution, ecumenism with the Orthodox, or the role his Church plays in the life of Catholicism's global fold. The head of Catholicism's largest Eastern-rite contingent recently marked his fifth anniversary in the primatial post and his elevation to the College of Cardinals. Five days before his election as the UGCC's head by the bishops of the Ukrainian Church's synod, the late Pope John Paul II announced that he would elevate 37 cardinals the following month. Two days after Husar's election occurred, John Paul broke precedent to add to his list, and included the newly enthroned prelate.
He may have the red hat, but one title Cardinal Husar and his flock wait on is the long- coveted designation of "Patriarch". Due to the sensitivities voiced in some Orthodox quar ters - particularly from the Moscow Patriarchate, whose head, Alexei II, portrayed the UGCC in a recent interview with The Tablet (25 February) as engaging in a campaign of active "proselytism" - Rome has handled the question of granting Ukrainian Catholics the Patriarchate with great care. For example, it did not make public its assent - which is canonically required - to Cardinal Husar's move last August from his Church's previous base in the border city of Lviv to the capital, Kiev, the cradle of Russian Christianity.
The Ukrainian Church is in the process of building a cathedral in Kiev, the temporary chapel of which was torched in November. While the culprits have not been identified, Orthodox activists are believed to have been behind the fire (The Tablet, 31 December 2005). Given the tensions, the Holy See only quietly implied its approval of the moves in a December release which made mention of Cardinal Husar, but whose prime purpose was to announce other episcopal appointments in the Ukraine. This discretion on the part of Rome led me to ask the Major Archbishop - his canonical title - if this reticence was being reflected behind the walls of the Vatican. "Our law [the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches] specifically prescribes that the head of the Church should reside in the principal city. And we, as a synod, decided that this is the time to execute the move," he said, going on to reveal that the Kiev move had been "very explicitly" approved by John Paul II in December 2004 in an audience with Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, the Lebanese prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, himself a former patriarch.
Then in May last year, Cardinal Husar met the Pope, saying that "the Holy Father encouraged us to keep working" on the patriarchate issue. At the same time, the cardinal downplayed the anxiety surrounding the transfer to Kiev, saying: "I think what has to be considered is that we came back to where we had been driven from 200 years before. So it was not something new, something unheard of - it was simply taking into consideration the new situation of freedom within our own state."
"We made this step to be where we should be," Cardinal Husar went on, "and I'm glad that we did it, and that we did it at this time."
In Cardinal Husar's experience, his country's Christian communities can and do put their divisions aside and find common cause. "Without a strong attachment to and practice of moral principles, we would not get very far," he said. "It is a peculiar aspect of ecumenism in Ukraine: we do not conduct any dialogue. There have been attempts, but they all failed. On the other hand, I would say there is very good cooperation on education."
It is now 15 months since the "Orange Revolution" which swept Ukrainian opposition leader Victor Yushchenko to the presidency, and the cardinal sees the mass uprising as "a platform, a standard, an ideal, [to] encourage [the people] to be more responsible citizens."
To him, it is not so much differences of communion, but the legacy of the country's turbulent past that is the most pressing crisis. "The Communist regime succeeded in breaking down the moral fibre of the people," the cardinal said. "If you look at Ukraine today, the different problems we have in politics and in the economy, and the social problems, all of these can be explained by a lack of moral fibre. There are no commonly acknowledged or accepted moral principles. It will take us maybe one, maybe two generations to reestablish a sense of public morality ... Our most important duty is to help people live their faith, that means to live according to its moral principles."
In its Eastern form, Ukrainian Catholicism is at a curious crossroads. The Church is in communion with Rome, but worships using the Orthodox liturgy. Despite the Vatican's thrusts toward dialogue with the various Orthodox communions, the Ukrainians remain ignored or unknown by many Latin-rite Catholics. I asked the cardinal's thoughts on the place in which his flock finds itself in the context of the wider Church.
"Numerically, we are a real minority ... maybe we are one per cent. So far as I know
from the Holy Father and his way of thinking, he appreciates the importance of us as bearers of a tradition within the Catholic Church. But if you're only one per cent, how do you make your ideas known to everyone? You're always, practically speaking in political terms, outvoted.
"But the Church doesn't go according to the principles of secular democracy, it goes by a synodal concept, and this is precisely, maybe, our responsibility: to make this synodal idea [work], discovering what is the will of God. That we have to contribute to the Universal Church." The appointment of bishops is a key area of the Ukrainian synod's work, and the main purpose of Cardinal Husar's trip to the Americas - a whirlwind tour to Canada, the United States and Brazil - was to preside at the ordinations and installations of the new bishops of these provinces. Their appointments were decided by the last meeting of his synod, which was held in December in Kiev.
The cardinal had some pointed words for the Latin rite's attitude on selecting its future leadership. He sees it as being of prime importance that "priests [who are] future candidates for bishop must be given training. Not to say 'We are going to make you a bishop, we're going to send you to school for training', but [to offer] practical exposure to practical situations."
Last year, Cardinal Husar became the first Ukrainian-rite prelate to help select a pope. Prior to that, he attained some notoriety by being tipped as a successor to John Paul II by John Allen, Rome correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. Cardinals usually take exception to such speculation. But Cardinal Husar chuckled when I asked him about what he called Allen's "creation". "I don't think anybody took it very seriously," he said. "Neither did I."
Something he does take seriously, however, is the health of his Church, and the strength of the ties that bind the fold in the Ukraine to the diaspora spread throughout the world. After our interview, Cardinal Husar presided over the ordination of a new auxiliary bishop, John Bura, in the adjacent cathedral.
Dressed in the imperial robes of the Eastern liturgy and wearing the bishop's crown, the grandfatherly cleric was transformed into a figure of majesty, guiding a ceremony that extended across four hours. I am told the cardinal, who has impaired eyesight, conducted it from memory. He preached on Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict's first encyclical. "The purpose of this encyclical is that this God, who created us, who moulded us into being, into living, is not only love - but that he loves us. And I would presume to describe the Church of Christ in this way: it is an assembly of people who are conscious, who believe, that God loves them."
"Everything seems very rosy today," he told the newly ordained Bishop John Bura. "But, tomorrow, when you put on the same vestments, you may experience something else. The prayers which accompany the vesting of a bishop almost always reflect [Christ's] Passion and death ... It has its very difficult moments."
Lviv Pseudo-Council commemorated in Kyiv
Mar 22, 2006
For more than a week (March 3 till March 12, 2006) Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church commemorated Lviv Pseudo-Council of 1946.
(ugcc.org.ua, 13.03) Following events were held to commemorate notorious Council: on March, 7 - Requiem concert at Solomia Krushel'nycka Lviv National Opera and Ballet Theatre; on March, 8 - Pontifical (Archiepiscopal) Divine Liturgy in St. George's Cathedral (the Liturgy was celebrated exactly on the same day when sixty years ago Lviv Pseudo-Council voted for the “re-union” with the Russian Orthodox Church); on March 11 - a special religious procession through the streets of Lviv. And on Sunday, March 12, all UGCC Churches in Ukraine and abroad celebrated Divine Liturgies for the victims of persecution and their persecutors.
In Kyiv's Patriarchal cathedral of Christ's Resurrection His Beatitude Lubomyr, Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych, concelebrated a commemorative Liturgy with His Excellency Bohdan Dzyurakh, auxiliary bishop of Kyiv and Vyshorod of the UGCC. Stanislav Shyrokoradyuk, auxiliary bishop of Roman Catholic Church diocese of Kyiv and Zhytomyr, Msgr. Wojcech Zalucky, chargé d'affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Ukraine, as well as numerous clergy and laymen also participated in the solemn celebration.
As His Beatitude explained in his sermon, three important events in the life of Kyiv-Vyshorod Archeparchy coincide on this day: The Sunday of Orthodoxy (the first Sunday of the Great Lent), the parochial commemoration of Lviv Pseudo-Council, and presentation to the faithful their new bishop – His Excellency Bohdan Dzyurakh. (His Excellency bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh was consecrated on the feast of the Encounter of Our Lord, on February 15, 2006. Synod of Bishops appointed him as an auxiliary bishop for Kyiv-Vyshorod Archeparchy).
After the Liturgy, bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradyuk, Msgr. Fr. Wojcech Zalucky and bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh addressed the faithful. His Excellency Bohdan Dzyurakh said: “Today we have gathered at this Liturgy to thank God for the gift of freedom, for the Spring of our Church. And at the same time we ask our God to grant us wisdom and strength, so that we can be loyal witnesses of Christ in the today's world. I personally anticipated this Liturgy with special anxiety, and now I am glad that I could bring this first bloodless sacrifice as the auxiliary bishop of His Beatitude Lubomyr in our cathedral together with all of you. I am happy to have an opportunity to pray for all of you – priests, sisters, brothers, all faithful of our Archeparchy. And with this prayer to give thanks to God for your presence here, for your service and work in the name of the aim, which is often reiterated by His Beatitude, “For the Church can be what it is: the Church. And it should resemble even more the ideal Church, theway Our Lord wants to see it”.
After the Liturgy the rite of blessing of an icon was celebrated. Then bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh blessed all the present. The common prayer ended with a modest dinner in a domestic surroundings. Everyone was invited.
Reconciliación es clave para conmemorar liquidación de Iglesia en Ucrania
Mar 22, 2006
Con motivo del 60º aniversario de la liquidación de la Iglesia Greco-Católica Ucraniana (IGCU), el Arzobispo Mayor de Lviv de los Ucranianos, Cardenal Lubomyr Husar, ha insistido en que esta conmemoración debe ser un llamado a la oración para una mayor unidad entre los cristianos ucranianos.
KÖNIGSTEIN, 08 Mar. 06 (ACI).- Según informa la organización Ayuda a la Iglesia que Sufre (AIS), los greco-católicos ucranianos conmemoran esta semana “los días más oscuros que atravesó su Iglesia”. En estas fechas se conmemora la celebración, en 1946, del pseudo-sínodo de Lviv (Ucrania occidental), cuando las autoridades comunistas obligaron a la IGCU a integrarse a la Iglesia ruso-ortodoxa.
La conmemoración “no debería limitarse al recuerdo de un acontecimiento pasado”, declaró el Purpurado a AIS, “sino ser una ocasión de hacer una nueva elección histórica que nos permita avanzar; un momento no para la autocompasión o la venganza sino para limpiar la memoria mediante el perdón a aquellos que fueron responsables del acontecimiento y de su repercusión en la sociedad”.
“Es hora de preguntarse si las partes implicadas no podrían avanzar juntas en pos de un futuro mejor”, añadió el Cardenal Arzobispo para quien los actos también serán una forma de dar gracias por la supervivencia de la IGCU, que soportó una persecución extrema bajo la ideología atea del comunismo.
Conmemoraciones
Las conmemoraciones con las que se recordará el comienzo de la diáspora ucraniana consistirán en la celebración, este jueves en Lviv, de una Divina Liturgia Pontifical en la que participarán los obispos de la metropolía en la catedral de San Jorge. Esta celebración, además de un concierto réquiem en la Ópera de Lviv, servirá para rendir homenaje a los mártires de la IGCU que murieron por mantener viva la fe.
Asimismo, el sábado 11 de marzo se realizará una procesión en memoria de las víctimas del régimen estalinista con la participación de toda la jerarquía, clero y fieles por las calles de la ciudad.
El domingo 12 de marzo se celebrarán Liturgias recordatorias en las iglesias católicas ucranias, tanto en Ucrania como en el extranjero.
En América Latina, en Argentina en particular, ese mismo día se celebrará en la catedral católica ucraniana Santa María del Patrocinio, la Divina Liturgia y luego un responso en memoria de las víctimas de la aniquilación de IGCU por el régimen soviético.
Durante la opresión comunista ejercida sobre la Iglesia y hasta 1989, año en que la IGCU fue nuevamente legalizada, sacerdotes y creyentes desafiaron con liturgias clandestinas la amenaza del encarcelamiento, el exilio y la ejecución para preservar la fe.
AIS ayudó a la Iglesia ucraniana durante décadas de opresión y persecución, y continúa apoyándola ahora en la reconstrucción de sus estructuras. En 2004 ayudó a proyectos como la construcción del seminario interdiocesano de Lviv y apoyó a los seminaristas del país.
Hirtenbrief zum 60. Jahrestag der Pseudosynode von Lemberg von 1946
Mar 18, 2006
Wir veröffentlichen den Hirtenbrief, den Lubomir Kardinal Husar, Großerzbischof der mit Rom unierten griechisch-katholischen Kirche der Ukraine, zum 60. Jahrestag der so genannten Lemberger "Pseudosynode" im Jahr 1946 verfasst hat.
ROM, 16. März 2006 (ZENIT.org).- Auf dieser Synode, die auf Druck des kommunistischen Geheimdienstes zustande gekommen war, wurde die Union mit Rom für aufgelöst erklärt und die griechisch-katholischen Diözesen in die russisch-orthodoxe Kirche eingegliedert. Nur ein Teil der Kleriker und Laien schloss sich dieser Zwangsvereinigung an. Die anderen, soweit sie nicht in Vernichtungslagern umkamen, lebten ihren Glauben im Verborgenen und bildeten eine Untergrundkirche, der in den 80er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts zehn Bischöfe und mehrere hundert Priester, Mönche und Nonnen angehörten.
In seinem Schreiben erinnert der 73-jährige Großerzbischof von Kiew und Halytsch an die Zeit der Christenverfolgung und erklärt, dass die Kirche dank einer zweifachen Gabe Gottes überlebt habe, die auch heute noch "Garantie unseres künftigen Bestehens" seien: die Liebe zu Gott, zur Wahrheit und zur Kirche sowie die geschwisterliche Liebe.
* * *
Seine Seligkeit Lubomir Kardinal Huzar
An die Gläubigen der ukrainischen griechisch-katholischen Kirche
Anlässlich des 60. Jahrestages der Lemberger Pseudosynode
Meine Lieben in Christus!
Vor sechzig Jahren, am ersten Fastensonntag, wurde in der Erzbischöflichen Kathedrale des heiligen Georg in Lemberg eine Versammlung abgehalten, die bekannt wurde unter dem Begriff "Pseudosynode". Die Organisatoren dieser Versammlung hatten zum Ziel, unsere ukrainische griechisch-katholische Kirche zu vernichten. Nach gründlicher Vorbereitung haben die Machtorgane auf den Befehl Stalins eine kleine Anzahl griechisch-katholischer Priester zu einer "freiwilligen" Aussage gezwungen, in welcher sie auf die Einheit mit dem Apostolischen Stuhl und dem Nachfolger Petri verzichteten und sich dem Moskauer Patriarchat anschlossen. Diese Versammlung wurde unter Verletzung des Kirchenrechts abgehalten, keiner der Bischöfe der ukrainischen griechisch-katholischen Kirche, und erst recht kein Metropolit, gab seinen Segen oder sein Einverständnis zu einer Synode oder zur Teilnahme daran (alle Bischöfe waren zu diesem Zeitpunkt verhaftet). Dass die Versammlung im Jahre 1946 illegitim war und dem Willen unseres Volkes widersprach, zeigte sich kurz danach sehr deutlich daran, dass unsere Kirche, obwohl sie jeden äußerlichen Merkmals beraubt war und unersetzliche Verluste durch die Verurteilung der meisten Geistlichen und gläubigen Laien erlitten hatte, ihre Existenz und Tätigkeit im Untergrund fortsetzte bis Ende der 80er Jahre, als sie wieder öffentlich in Erscheinung trat.
Liebe Mitbrüder im Bischofsamt, liebe Priester, Ordensangehörige und Mitarbeiter, viele von Euch haben dieses Leben im Untergrund miterlebt, welches der römischen Christenverfolgung am Anfang des Christentums ähnelte. Heute möchte ich Euch allen herzlich danken dafür, dass Ihr Eurer Glaubensüberzeugung die Treue gehalten habt, dass Ihr Euch nicht habt belügen lassen und dass Ihr nicht vom rechten Weg abgekommen seid. Ich fordere Euch auch dazu auf, die Bekenner unseres Glaubens und die Märtyrer für unseren Glauben, die bekannten und die unbekannten, welche ihr Leben für den Glauben hingegeben haben, würdig zu ehren. Obwohl unsere menschliche Ehrerweisung nur ein winzig kleiner Abglanz der Belohnung ist, die unser Herr seinen treuen Kindern gibt, bringen auch wir unseren menschlichen Dank und unsere Anerkennung dar.
Heute stellen wir uns die Frage: Wie ist es unserer Kirche gelungen, diese schweren Jahre zu überleben? Es wäre eine Anmaßung zu sagen, dass wir dies durch unsere menschliche Anstrengung erreicht hätten. Unsere Kirche überlebte dank einer zweifachen Gabe Gottes: die erste Gabe – das ist die Liebe zu Gott, zur Wahrheit und zu unserer Kirche; die zweite Gabe – das ist die geschwisterliche Liebe, gegenseitiges Vertrauen und Unterstützung. Darin, meine lieben Mitchristen, besteht auch die Garantie unseres künftigen Bestehens und des Wachstums unserer Kirche. Es ist auch eine Lehre für uns, die wir von unseren verfolgten Großvätern und Vätern bekommen haben, welche unter den Verfolgungen unsere Kirche und unsere geistigen Schätze zu bewahren vermochten.
Unsere Aufgabe heute besteht darin, dass wir Gottes Wahrheit die Treue bewahren und leben wie die Kinder Gottes, in Liebe und Ehrfurcht voreinander, einig miteinander und vereint mit unserem himmlischen Vater, wie es Jesu Worten entspricht: "Ich bin der Weinstock, ihr seid die Reben. Wer in mir bleibt, und ich in ihm, - der bringt reiche Frucht" (Joh. 15,5). Unserem Herrn, der uns in diesen so kritischen Zeiten rettete und uns damit lehrte, wie wіr heute unser Leben gestalten sollen, singen wir einen großen Hymnus der Wahrheit und des Lobes und des Dankes!
Gottes Segen Euch allen!
Lubomir Kardinal Husar
Cardinal sees Huculak's scholarship as gift to Church
Mar 04, 2006
Scholarly knowledge is the greatest attribute Archbishop Lawrence Huculak will bring to his role as metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, says the Church's worldwide head.
(Western Catholic Reporter, 02/15/2006) "I know Bishop Lawrence primarily as a scholar," says Cardinal Lubomyr Husar. That scholarship will be of great importance to the Church as it tries to understand its own traditions.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church is currently trying to recover and deepen its knowledge of its own traditions after centuries of their being intermixed with Latin-rite Catholic traditions.
The Ukrainian Church was reunited with Rome in 1596 after centuries of separation. But in the period after the reunion, Ukrainian liturgical and religious traditions were mixed with those of Rome. The Second Vatican Council responded by encouraging the Eastern Catholic churches to rediscover those traditions.
Huculak has a doctorate in Oriental liturgy that he acquired studying under the world's leading expert in that area, ironically a Roman Catholic Jesuit, Father Robert Taft.
Husar said Huculak's background should be useful "in helping those within the tradition to understand (the liturgy) and to love it."
The Byzantine Divine Liturgy should not be "a show" but should be celebrated with deep understanding, he said. The Church in North America can contribute to the larger Ukrainian Catholic Church by helping it to understand its liturgical tradition.
That would help to strengthen the Church's identity. "One has to be very much conscious of why I am the way I am."
As for Huculak, he said, "Maybe this is the moment in history that we need this kind of man in this position."
Husar contended that the fact the Church has a metropolitan in Canada "is not a small thing."
"It is a structural reality that gives unity to the parishes and eparchies and exarchates that are part of it."
The metropolia gives life to the Church, he said. The metropolitan can help people who have the Ukrainian Catholic tradition, but also encourage them to share their faith with others who may have been far from God, the Church or religion.
"This openness is an integral part of our existence here."
Il Cardinale Husar ha inaugurato la prima casa Orionina in Ucraina
Nov 24, 2005
L'Arcivescovo maggiore di Lviv degli Ucraini, il Cardinale Lubomyr Husar, ha inaugurato sabato scorso, 12 novembre, la "Casa della Divina Provvidenza" di Don Orione: la prima casa orionina aperta in Ucraina, che verrà dedicata ad attività di evangelizzazione e di solidarietà.
Kiev (Agenzia Fides, 15/11/2005) - Alla cerimonia di inaugurazione erano presenti, oltre al Direttore provinciale della Piccola Opera della Divina Provvidenza, Don Pierangelo Ondei, anche un centinaio di ragazzi che fanno riferimento alla nuova struttura.
Secondo le informazioni dell'Ufficio stampa dell'Opera Don Orione, all'inizio del mese di ottobre erano partiti i lavori di sistemazione della struttura, di circa 170 mq, ribattezzata “Casa della Divina Provvidenza". Don Egidio Montanari, direttore della comunità orionina a Leopoli, spiega che i lavori eseguiti sono stati di piccola entità: tinteggiatura, sistemazione di vetri, porte e finestre, rifacimento di qualche pavimento e pulizia generale. "E' un piccolo seme orionino in Ucraina - prosegue Don Moreno Cattelan, orionino a Leopoli da alcuni anni - ma anche un segno forte della
Provvidenza che ci ha voluto in questo grande paese per testimoniare l'amore a Cristo e alla Chiesa di Roma".
Ukraine cardinal wants synod with Orthodox
Oct 24, 2005
A senior Ukrainian cardinal said Monday there was little dividing the Catholic and Orthodox Christian faiths and suggested that the pope call a meeting of the world's bishops to discuss the Eastern rite within the Catholic Church.
(Associated Press, Oct. 10, 2005) VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, made the suggestion in a speech to a three-week meeting of the world's bishops that is designed to give the pope recommendations on running the church.
Eastern rite Catholic churches share many Orthodox rituals but are loyal to the pope.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches split in 1054 over several questions, including the issue of the primacy of the pope. Relations now between the two sides have been made tense by Orthodox charges of aggressive Catholic missionary work in Eastern Europe and by property disputes.
Pope Benedict XVI has made unifying all Christians a fundamental priority of his pontificate, and he invited a record number of ecumenical representatives to take part in the Oct. 2-23 meeting, known as a synod, including one from the Russian Orthodox Church.
In his speech, Husar noted that the Catholic and Orthodox churches share fundamental beliefs about the Eucharist, which is the topic of the synod.
The Catholic Church also recognizes as valid Orthodox ordinations of priests, and both churches recognize the apostolic succession of their bishops, meaning both trace the ordination of their bishops back to Christ's 12 apostles, Husar said.
"If the mutual recognition of the apostolic succession of bishops is recognized, and consequently that of the priests who celebrate it, my question is: what else do we need for unity?" according to a summary of his remarks released by the Vatican.
"Is there perhaps another source, or another summit superior to the Eucharist?" he asked. "And if it doesn't exist, why can't we allow concelebration?"
Husar then suggested that the pope call a new synod of the world's Catholic bishops to discuss the role of the Eastern rite church, saying there was a lack of understanding among other Catholics about its role.
He suggested Orthodox clerics be included in the meeting.
In an interview with The Associated Press after his speech, Husar noted that the late Pope John Paul II had frequently said the Catholic Church "breathes with two lungs" - a reference to the Eastern and Western halves of the church.
"At the moment we do not feel that the church is breathing with these two lungs," he told the AP.
At the start of Monday's meetings, the bishops were asked to keep the victims of the South Asian earthquake in their prayers.
Several bishops also spoke of the need for the church to incorporate more local customs into the Mass. The working document of the synod warned that while useful, such attempts at including local songs and dance in the Mass, sometimes go too far and can cause "scandal" and confusion among the faithful.
But the archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, Monsignor John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, said such "inculturation" has had a positive effect on the church in Africa, increasing participation of the faithful and promoting evangelization, and said it should not be cause for alarm.
"Solemnity and sacredness can be expressed not only in plain chant and the organ, but also by the gong, the xylophone and the tam-tam," he said, according to the Rev. John Bartunek, a synod spokesman who read from his text.
"We may not have much to offer in terms of the glorious architecture of European cathedrals or the fabulous paintings of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci," he said. "But what we have, we are happy to give: our songs and lyrics, our drumming and rhythmic body movements, all to the glory of God."
Ukrainian cardinal urges people not to overdramatize papal election
Apr 08, 2005
Ukrainian Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Lviv said electing a new pope is a serious responsibility, but it is not as if the fate of the world rests on the cardinals' shoulders.
ROME (CNS, Apr-6-2005) -- "Let's not overdramatize this," he told Catholic News Service in Rome April 6. "It is a serious responsibility because it is a serious job, but it is not as if the whole world depends on this. But the consequences are serious."
Cardinal Husar said an old adage applies strictly: "Work as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on God."
The 71-year-old cardinal said, "My hope was that the late pope would live another 10 years so I would not have to take part in a conclave." Cardinals over 80 are not eligible to vote.
Cardinal Husar said that when he was elected to head the Ukrainian Catholic Church, an Eastern rite, people kept referring to him as the successor of Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky and Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, "and I am not them. I am me and the same thing will happen to the next pope."
"Someone has to fill the office," he said, but each successive pope will be different from his predecessors.
"We should not create too much of a mystique about this office," he said.
Cardinal Husar said he was looking for a prayerful person, not a saint, to be the next pope.
He quoted a saint who once said a bishop should be a man "who is not very healthy, not very saintly and not very wise."
"He had a point," the cardinal said. "He must be a man."
"I am very much against mystifying this. The person elected must say, 'I am who I am and God will do the rest.'"
Cardinal Husar said the cardinals' task is made difficult by the fact that "there are too many of us to really know each other."
He said with all the challenges facing the church and the world, "You cannot come up with a profile, then look around the room to see who fits."
One problem all of the cardinals see, he said, is "a lack of moral fiber all around the world."
"Addressing the problem of morality is not a matter of reciting rules, rules, rules, but of helping people to do God's will," he said.
For that reason, the next pope should be a cardinal who has pastoral experience, Cardinal Husar said. That does not exclude Vatican officials, because most of them served as bishops at one time, he added.
Cardinal Husar also rejected the idea that the cardinals, to guide their vote, would draw up some sort of master plan, such as choosing one of the older cardinals with a view to having a brief transitional pontificate.
"All those types of calculations are dangerous," he said.
Besides, he added, many people thought Pope John XXIII was elected to be a transitional pope, "and he called the Second Vatican Council and changed the face of the church."
"My message to all people is: Let us take this calmly, without mystifying or overdramatizing it. After all, there have been more than 260 popes in the church's history, and there will be more," he said.
Problèmes avec l’orthodoxie sur fond russe
Oct 08, 2004
Comme en Russie, l’Orthodoxie est revendicative, à tel point que le cardinal Husar, évêque de Liev, monte au créneau pour défendre l’identité des catholiques romains.
(DICI, 7/12/2002) "La thèse de l’Eglise orthodoxe russe, affirme le cardinal Husar, est que, pour être de bons Russes, il faut être orthodoxes. Et ils tiennent le même discours pour l’Ukraine qui, disent-ils “a toujours été orthodoxe”".
"Mais nous, grecs catholiques, affirme aujourd’hui le cardinal Husar, nous sommes plus de 4,5 millions de personnes et nul ne peut nier que nous soyons de bons Ukrainiens".
Pour le cardinal, la seule existence des grecs catholiques "fait tomber la prétention d’identification culturelle et confessionnelle", et l’objectif de Moscou est d’éliminer, "tout ce qui fait obstacle à la réunification politique ou religieuse de l’Ukraine à la Russie". Selon lui, "la Russie ne parvient pas à se considérer comme une grande nation, comme “un empire”, sans l’Ukraine. Il en va de même pour l’Eglise orthodoxe russe", souligne-t-il en précisant que sur les 19000 paroisses qui dépendent du patriarcat de Moscou, plus de 9000 se trouvent sur le territoire ukrainien.
Le cardinal Husar souhaiterait que Rome crée un patriarcat à Kiev, dans l’est du pays, afin de donner une plus grande importance à l’implantation de l’Eglise catholique. Le responsable des relations extérieures du patriarcat orthodoxe de Moscou a immédiatement réagi: "s’ils créent un tel patriarcat, cela voudrait dire que l’Eglise catholique installe un patriarcat contre celui qui existe déjà".
Le cardinal Husar indignés par le cardinal Kasper
Oct 04, 2004
La question d’un patriarcat a été abordée le 19 février, à Moscou, lors d’une rencontre entre le cardinal Walter Kasper, président du Conseil pontifical pour la promotion de l’unité des chrétiens, et le métropolite Kirill, à la tête du département des relations extérieures de l’Eglise orthodoxe russe.
(DICI, 20/3/2004) Après cet entretien, les deux parties ont décidé de mettre en place un groupe mixte de travail qui étudiera cette question.
Mais l’Eglise grecque-catholique ukrainienne de rite oriental, fidèle à Rome, constate le mécontentement de ses fidèles après les entretiens de Moscou. "Beaucoup de grecs-catholiques sont préoccupés et dans une certaine mesure indignés qu’un sujet concernant le développement interne de notre Eglise ait été débattu, non à Kiev, Lviv ou Rome, mais à Moscou, et, ce qui est encore plus grave, sans notre participation", ont écrit les évêques ukrainiens dans une déclaration diffusée le 3 mars.
Cette déclaration est signée par le cardinal Lubomyr Husar, à la tête des 5 millions de membres qui forment cette Eglise, interdite par les autorités soviétiques pendant 44 ans et qui n’a retrouvé son statut légal qu’en 1990.
L’Eglise orthodoxe russe a publié en février les déclarations de toutes les Eglises orthodoxes s’opposant à l’établissement d’un patriarcat. L’une d’entre elles provenant du patriarche oecuménique de Constantinople affirmait qu’un patriarcat grec-catholique en Ukraine serait "un acte tout à fait hostile à l’ensemble de l’orthodoxie".
Refuting the Arguments Against the Establishment of a Ukranian Greek Catholic Patriarchat
Oct 04, 2004
On 6 September 2004 Cardinal Lubomir Husar published a “Pastoral Message” regarding the affirmation of the Patriarchal System for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC).
The project of establishing the UGCC patriarchate by the incumbent Pope of Rome triggered protests based on the following challenges:
• The patriarchate of the UGCC will weaken communion with the successor of St. Peter the Apostle and, therefore, weaken the connection with the whole Catholic Church.
• The patriarchate will mean the establishment of a Church of a nationalistic coloring, which will sow hatred against all others.
• The UGCC patriarchate would become a great obstacle in the way of the unification of Christians in Ukraine.
• The establishment of the UGCC patriarchate would mean defiance of the rights of the Moscow Patriarchate, which considers Ukraine its canonical territory.
• The patriarchal status of the UGCC would lead to the preservation of „Uniatism,” which in our times has been condemned as an inappropriate way to achieve unity among all Christians.
Of course, every challenge evokes our emotional response, but it is possible and necessary to see them in a different light by using them for a better understanding of our situation, on one hand, and for visualization of the appropriate and necessary steps we should take. For we do not want the establishment of the patriarchate to cause others to suffer. In our complicated situation, we should protect our rights calmly and with careful consideration and respect the just rights of others.
We are not going to answer each of the points in particular, but rather we will express the general attitude towards them. In the present historic moment, the argument which is the most urgent of all is the ecumenical argument, specifically, the fear that the recognition of the UGCC patriarchate by the Pope may lead to a disruption of the ecumenical dialogue and freezing of the relations between the Catholic Church and the fullness of Orthodoxy. This is not our intention. We believe that our patriarchate will be an important factor for the improvement of relations between Christians and will not cause disunity. For, the patriarchate of the UGCC is needed not only by our Church but also by all particular Churches. Therefore, we are sure that the day will come when the whole Christian community realizes this.
We were grieved by the reaction of the Orthodox Churches, who took a clearly non-peaceful position and made it known to the Holy Father through the Moscow Patriarchate without learning about our history and our current situation or our spiritual needs. However, the establishment of our patriarchate is by no means designed to be a threat or intrigue against the Orthodox Churches and does not infringe their rights in anything. The UGCC (whether as a patriarchate or not) has no claims against the Orthodox. In the same way, the Orthodox cannot have claims against Greek Catholics regarding the territory, system and way of life, either. When ecclesial values are at issue, there should be no room for secular categories, because ecclesial values cannot become subjects of discussions.
At the end of the 16 th century , the Kyivan Church chose its own special way to ensure unity in the Universal Church. Part of our nation rejected that way at that time and thereby caused the division of the Kyivan Church. However, the part which is today called the Greek Catholic Church became enriched and benefited from taking that way, because it was able to preserve its faith and originality in critical moments of its existence. Of course, there are both light and dark pages in the history of our Church. However, we Greek Catholics have no wish to impose upon anyone our solutions as the only possible and right ones. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky confirmed this in his correspondence dialogue with Orthodox brethren in the early 1940s. But the goal spoken about by Metropolitans Petro Mohyla and Mykhailo Rohoza (they sought the way to unity in a common patriarchate) was the same, namely, to restore the initial unity of the time of Volodymyr the Great. Today, in the 21 st century, our patriarchate is designed not to be an obstacle but to be the path to the situation in which Ukraine has one patriarch in St. Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv.
Would the establishment of the Greek Catholic Patriarchate mean an increase of hatred for non-Ukrainians, as some maintain? No, because a patriarchate, where Christian virtues are fostered, cannot indulge in chauvinism. Christian patriotism, however, is a virtue. It is normal to wish one's nation well; it is seeking such well-being at the expense of other nations that is a violation of the Christian norm. We sincerely expect that life under the patriarchal system, if treated with respect by all neighbors, can only lead to establishment of agreement in our part of the world.
But, probably the most paradoxical of the challenges issued by those opposing our patriarchate is the statement that its establishment is designed to be „an escape from Rome.” Such a challenge is a complete negation of our faith. There is no doubt that, when our Church achieves the patriarchate, the character of relations with certain Roman institutions will change, as the laws require. But these changes will concern only the secondary, administrative sphere. The main feature of each particular Catholic Church is communion with the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, the bishop of Rome, and we will never disown that.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Must Become a Patriarchal Church
Oct 04, 2004
On 6 September 2004 Cardinal Lubomir Husar published a “Pastoral Message” regarding the affirmation of the Patriarchal System for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC).
The UGCC has all the above-mentioned characteristics to become a patriarchal Church.
Firstly, as part of the Eastern tradition, our Church considers the patriarchate to be the natural form of its existence, which fully accords with the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches which says that “the patriarchal office in the Eastern Church is a traditional form of government.” (11)
Secondly, the establishment of the patriarchate is determined by the needs of development of the UGCC, which was unanimously declared by the delegates of the Patriarchal Sobor of 2002. Our Church is becoming mature in terms of particularity today, which we see as a clear work of the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly, our Church is convinced that, according to the requirement of the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism , the patriarchal system “is better suited to the character of our faithful and more for the good of their souls.” (comp. 16) In other words, we consider the patriarchate to be a better means for more perfect church life. As a believer, one should view the patriarchate as a religious-ecclesial reality, where its every element has appropriate rights and duties. In the life of the Eastern Church at all its levels, the patriarchal system develops a sense of greater responsibility for one's actions. The church's well-being becomes the business of each of its faithful to a greater extent than before.
Fourthly, the transfer to the patriarchal system is the Church's response to the establishment of the state independence of Ukraine . The patriarchal system here is understood as a means of reorganization and normalization of the faithfuls' spiritual life for the sake of their common good and the good of the Church.
Fifthly, our Church is not limited to its existence in the territory of the native state, but, in view of historical circumstances, is widely-spread in different countries and has local hierarchical structures there. The UGCC in Ukraine and the diaspora constitutes a community considerable in size. But its power and importance is not in numbers but in the unity and consolidation of its spiritual forces. The patriarchal system of the Church will allow this goal to be achieved to the fullest extent. It was confirmed by the delegates of the Third Session of the Patriarchal Sobor of the UGCC in their address, which says that the establishment of the patriarchate would strengthen “the cooperation between the mother-Church and the daughter-Churches in the settlements.”
Patriarch Josyf once suggested that the great martyrdom showed by UGCC faithful in the 20 th century is a strong reason for the establishment of its patriarchate. While completely agreeing with the idea of our famous confessor of the faith, we would like, however, to warn the faithful against an incorrect interpretation of this argument. The fact of their heroic martyrdom is a vivid indication of the maturity of the members of our Church. It is a spiritual treasure from which the next generations of faithful draw richly. However, the patriarchal status of the UGCC is not to be its faithfuls' reward for martyrdom. Such an interpretation of the above-mentioned Christian virtue can distort its great spiritual meaning. The reward for martyrs is in heaven, and here on Earth martyrdom becomes a foundation for the Church to grow on. The fundamental elements of this foundation are the love of God and one's neighbor, faithfulness to the truth, the ability to forgive offenders, a sense of solidarity with those in need, and so on. A patriarchate built on such a foundation will be established forever, because the Lord Himself recognizes it.
Cardinal Husar Accuses Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow
Sept 12, 2004
Cardinal Husar was pessimistic. He said he was disappointed “by the position of the patriarch of Moscow, who continues to speak of the Uniates – a pejorative term – and refers to Eastern-rite Catholics as ‘a problem’'. The Russian patriarch, Alexis, opposed the Pope’s June 2001 visit to Ukraine.
(The Tablet, 3 November 2001) According to the Ukrainian cardinal, ”the closer we get to a solution of the problem between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox, the more excuses are found not to come to an agreement. Patriarch Alexis accuses Eastern-rite Catholics of using violence against Orthodox, but we are not aware of any such case. We have asked him to point out at least one, but he has not given us an answer”, the cardinal concluded.
Cardinal Husar Prompted Pope to Convoke Assisi Event
Sept 11, 2004
It was Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, archbishop of Greek Catholics of Ukraine, who suggested to the Pope the meeting of religious leaders to pray for peace, which John Paul II has convoked for Jan. 24 in Assisi. This is revealed in a letter of Father Virginio Bressanelli, superior general of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians).
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 8, 2002 (Zenit.org). In the text of the letter, published by the Vidimus Dominum news service of religious congregations, Father Bressanelli explains that the initiative was mentioned at the end of last October's synod of bishops.
Superiors general of religious congregations participating in the synodal assembly were dining with the Holy Father when Cardinal Husar joined them.
During the dinner, the archbishop major of Lviv of Eastern-rite Catholics suggested to the Pope that the 1986 prayer meeting of religious leaders, held in Assisi, should be repeated in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"After a minute of silence, [the Pope] gave his consent with a nod of the head and a soul-filled yes. A month later, during the Angelus of Sunday, Nov. 18, he called the meeting," explained Father Bressanelli, who was present at the dinner.
Interview with Cardinal Lubomyr Husar
Sept 11, 2004
“The Pope himself in his very recent apostolic instruction for the bishops speaks again: “Patriarchates should be established.” Because he is interested in doing what the Ecumenical Council has desired and established.” Interview conducted in Lviv, 26 January 2004 by Antoine Arjakovsky, professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University.
Your Eminence, in the interview you gave to the magazine 30 Giorni you explain the reasons for the transfer of your Cathedral See from Lviv to Kyiv.
Three arguments are: that there are 600,000 Greek Catholics in eastern Ukraine; the history of your Church that in 1596 was historically in Kyiv; and that this is the capital of Ukraine and the other religions in Ukraine are also represented in Kyiv. And in the end of the interview, you add an argument: you say that the main reproach against us is that we don't link Church and nation. Does this mean that your ecclesiology is more eucharistic than territorial and national?
Cardinal Husar: “Canonical territory” is a very old principle among Christians. Practically from the beginning it was always stated there should be only one bishop for one territory, which I think is perfectly reasonable. It's very Christian, it's very traditional. It has, however, one defect. Not the idea itself. We have the defect. The idea is perfect: a bishop, who is the father of all the Christians in a particular area, is supposed to take care of all of them no matter what their language, their culture. The assumption is, and the reality was at the beginning of Christian centuries, that all these people have one faith. And the bishop as the good father, without having huge territory but maybe one city territory, a manageable territory, would take care of all of them. But today we cannot apply this principle.
-Q:Why not?
Cardinal Husar:Because we are not anymore one Church. We are a divided Church. Let's take the example of Germany. We have Catholics and we have Lutherans. They are very different. Will it be possible for one bishop to take care of all of them? In Eastern Europe today, Orthodox and Greek Catholics are much closer to one another, because, as I see it, we do have one faith. Even though it is frequently said that we do differ in our faith, but I don't think this is true. But, however, the Patriarchate of Moscow, for example, and our Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine differ. We are not anymore one Church. We are two churches, distinct churches. And because of that we do have, practically, two canonical territories. We cannot speak anymore of one canonical territory. Because the difference is so fundamental between us, up to today, that I don't know any one bishop who would be able to take equally care of people who do and who do not have the Pope of Rome as the visible center of the Universal Church . So the application of the old principle does not go.
-Q:What would be the ideal situation today?
Cardinal Husar:I speak as a Catholic without wishing to impose my vision on anybody. Even if I belong to the Orthodox, in the sense of Byzantine, tradition, I am, at the same time, in communion with the Bishop of Rome. In this sense I am in eucharistic communion. I want to underline this. I will give you a very concrete example. What does this communion mean? We have in the city of Lviv Cardinal Jaworski , a Latin rite bishop. And I am an Eastern rite bishop. And yet we can concelebrate. Because we are in communion with one another, being in communion with the Bishop of Rome. I share with my Orthodox brother Metropolitan Vladimir of Kyiv the same liturgical, spiritual, theological tradition, and yet we cannot concelebrate. Because we are not in the same communion. This lets us understand that we are not really one Church in each other's eyes. So the application of canonical territory, in this situation of division, is not applicable.
-Q:On 29 November 2003 , the Pope received a letter from Patriarch Bartholomew in response to a letter of Cardinal Kasper addressed to Patriarch Alexis. Cardinal Kasper justified the recognition of the [UGCC] patriarchate by the canons that establish the patriarchal law in the Church at the 4 th Council of Chalcedon in 451. Patriarch Bartholomew refuses this approach and invokes the Council of Constantinople of 879-880 and speaks of the inviolability of the limits of patriarchal traditional sees. But the metropolitanate of Kyiv, of which your see is the inheritor, however, signed the act of union with Rome at the Council of Florence in 1439 with Constantinople . And your church, on the contrary to Moscow and Constantinople , has never revoked it. Isn't this the reason of discord with Patriarch Bartholomew, who doesn't accept the possibility for your church to become a patriarchate?
Cardinal Husar:I have great difficulties understanding his argumentation. We have, we had very close relationships with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Because it is through this patriarchate that Christianity officially came into what today is Ukraine. However, his argumentation to me is not very clear. There is not the least doubt that patriarchates in the course of history have been erected, created and recognized in very different ways. The old classical way was that the ecumenical council, one of those original great seven councils, acknowledged the existence of certain patriarchates. This was the first millenium. In the course of the second millenium the situation is very different. And when we come to today it is still more different.
-Q:In what sense?
Cardinal Husar:In the course of the second millennium, several patriarchates were established within the Orthodox Church and within the Catholic Church. In the Orthodox Church, Moscow , and more recently Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and other patriarchates. They have been established not by an ecumenical council…
-Q:…but by a mother church…
Cardinal Husar:…By a mother church, which has acknowledged their existence, but not by ecumenical council, because there was not an ecumenical council in the Orthodox Church in the second millennium. There is a desire to have one, but it has not materialized.
In the Catholic Church, taking the position of the Bishop of Rome, Vatican Council II has said that patriarchates, within the Catholic Church, within the Eastern tradition, the Byzantine tradition, but not exclusively (because there is, for example, the [Syro-] Malabar Church [of India], which is not Byzantine), should be established. Who can establish them? Classically, the ecumenical council. But should we wait for an ecumenical council to be called before a patriarchate can be recognized or erected? Ideally speaking, maybe so. But life goes on and we don't know when the next ecumenical council will take place. This Ecumenical Council (Vatican II) said: “Let there be patriarchates established.” If there is an ecumenical council, it would be competent to do it. But if there is not one and there is need to establish one [a patriarchate], let the Pope do it himself with the mandate of the Ecumenical Council as being the responsible person within the Catholic Church to do such things. It is not something that he is ascribing to himself as if he was an absolute ruler. He is acting within the Church as the one who is responsible, who can do it within the Catholic framework of thinking, having not only his own desire or will, but having behind him the mandate of the Ecumenical Council. And this mandate of the Ecumenical Council has been repeated in the Code of Canon Law. The Pope himself in his very recent apostolic instruction for the bishops speaks again: “Patriarchates should be established.” Because he is interested in doing what the Ecumenical Council has desired and established. So it is not, as somebody may think, an act of human fancy. No, he is working within the framework of the life of churches within which he himself is a very important part.
So, yes, the first five great patriarchates have been established by the ecumenical councils. But so many other existing ones were not. There is maybe one more element to it. I feel that too much is being made of the patriarchate. As if this were something exceptional. To my mind, a patriarchate is a normal form of existence in the Eastern Byzantine tradition. It is simply a development of church structure. And I don't feel that it ought to be overplayed. We don't desire it simply as a prestige or reward for our suffering or our martyrs. We look upon it as a pastoral instrument, and secondly as an ecumenical instrument. Because we feel that our patriarchate can be, within our unfortunately divided Kyivan Church, a very strong ecumenical instrument that would be leading towards the consciousness of the entire Church, for unity. It does not mean that all have to become Greek Catholics. It means that we all have to come to the original unity in which our church was, even though it is a unity that, as it was originally, is also in communion with the successor of Saint Peter.
So the situation is a bit overplayed. We do not look upon it as something extraordinary. According to canon law and according to this latest papal document, it is simply the normal way it ought to be.
The idea of patriarchates for the Western Church has been spoken of during the Second Vatican Council. But I think that the Western Church is not ready for it. Even though we should never forget that the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope of Rome, is the Patriarch of the West. And this traditional title has never been cancelled.
-Q:On 20 January 2004, Patriarch Alexis declared to the Agency France-Press AFP that in Ukraine “hundreds of thousands of Orthodox believers are a persecuted minority” and there is “expansion of the Greek Catholic Church in the south and the east of Ukraine,” that the majority of Ukrainians will not accept erection of a Greek Catholic patriarchate. So what is your reaction? It is quite tragic that last year Alexis did not recognized the fact that in 1945 the Greek Catholic Church was abolished by the Soviet State with the help of the Russian Orthodox Church. I suppose that it is difficult for you to talk to someone who thirteen years after the end of the Soviet Union still does not recognize the tragedy of your church. How is it possible to have a dialogue with Moscow in these conditions?
Cardinal Husar:The situation is very complex. Let us clarify it step by step. In the 18 th and 19 th centuries (and unfortunately it remained in the 20th century), it was said that you cannot be a true Ukrainian, you cannot be a true Russian, unless you are Orthodox confessionally. And inverted: a true Orthodox is Russian or Ukrainian or Greek, or is Serbian, or somebody else. That means an identification in this sense as if these two concepts were integrally and maybe ontologically connected. Our existence is a denial of this. In the sense that we are Ukrainians, we are Christians, we are of the Eastern tradition, and we also are in communion with the Apostolic See of Rome. That means that being in this communion does not make us less Ukrainian, less Christian, less Orthodox in the sense of the Byzantine tradition. This has always been unthinkable for the Patriarchate of Moscow and for many other Orthodox churches. And I think it is excessive. And that should be overcome.
Secondly, we have the situation of 1946. The Soviet government under a direct order from Stalin liquidates our church. I do not wish to make a general condemnation, because it is for us, who have not been directly in the Soviet system, not easy to understand and to speak from the experience of what it means to be under the Soviet system.
-Q:You were born in 1933?
Yes, but I left the Soviet Union in 1944. I didn't live in the worst, darkest years. However, the fact is that the Russian Orthodox Church was used as an instrument in this liquidation and, unfortunately, to some extent, certainly collaborated, willingly or not willingly I do not enter into this. Let God judge. I do not judge because times were very difficult. The facts are, however, such. The Soviet government gave to the Patriarchate of Moscow a great number or churches. It was the only church that was permitted to exist. People who wanted to go to church had to go to the Russian Orthodox Church. And many did go. In 1989, the Soviet government permits the Greek Catholic Church to register again. And then in 1990 and 1991, many of those communities that went to the Russian Orthodox Church said: “There is no need for us anymore. Let us be what we were before, Greek Catholic.” And over one thousand communities registered as Greek Catholic. Then there were difficulties about church buildings. Some of these difficulties have remained up to today.
-Q:How many churches are still discussed?
Cardinal Husar:I would say that in western Ukraine there are over 300 localities that are in conflict.
-Q:With the Moscow Patriarchate?
Cardinal Husar:Especially with the [Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the] Patriarchate of Kyiv and the [Ukrainian] Autocephalous [Orthodox] Church. There is none with Moscow in the Lviv region, for example. I would say that there are about 25 localities where conflicts are pretty strong.
-Q:Can we speak about a religious war?
Cardinal Husar:Absolutely not. I think that to speak about persecutions is very unjust. However, I can understand the Russian Orthodox Church. They were here for 45 years. And when the opportunity came, people went away from them. That means a real pastoral failure. These people have not remained Orthodox. It is a wound for the Russian Orthodox Church which is very difficult to heal.
-Q:But is there any hope for mutual re-discovery?
Cardinal Husar:You see, from our part, my immediate predecessor, Cardinal Lubachivsky, proposed to the Russian Orthodox Church that we forgive one another. Our people, even if they have suffered much, even if many of them don't like the word “Orthodox,” have no real hatred against the Russian Orthodox. I myself was celebrating in a locality in which on the same Sunday Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan (head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church) was consecrating a new Orthodox church. There was absolutely no opposition from the Greek Catholics. The people said: “They built it, let them have it.” The conflicts are when there is a church that was ours but is not ours any more. The government has given such a church to the Orthodox of the Patriarchate of Moscow or the Patriarchate of Kyiv and let them keep it. So our attitude is not the desire to fight, to take vengeance. I can speak very freely that our basic attitude is to gladly be friends with Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox. There is real hope. There is a declaration of the Patriarchate of Moscow which has not been sufficiently appreciated. The Patriarch of Moscow, speaking to Christians of Russian tradition in Western Europe, has admitted that the Patriarchate of Moscow during Soviet times did not conduct itself in an exemplary manner but gave in to the government.
-Q:When did he say that?
Cardinal Husar:Last year he wrote a letter to émigré Russians who want to establish a Russian metropolitanate in Western Europe depending on the Patriarchate of Moscow. And I think that it is a very interesting thing that he and those around him have realized that it has not always been very good. To me this is a good sign. There is a recognition that in the past, for the reason of human weakness, there has been incorrect conduct which ought to be levelled out. So I do not lose hope that sooner or later the Moscow Patriarchate will realize that nobody is perfect. It paves the road for mutual understanding, for a Christian attitude towards one another.
-Q:Do you address the same words of mutual forgiveness of Cardinal Lubachivsky to Patriarch Alexis and to the Russian Church today?
Cardinal Husar:Yes, absolutely. We are always ready, even if they have never wished it up to today, for this act of mutual forgiveness.
-Q:I can understand that the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan, can suppose that, because you are now in Kyiv, you can demand main places of the Orthodox tradition, like the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves, the monastery of Pochaiv, and other churches. They can be afraid of that. Because you are very popular and you have chosen to use Ukrainian as the liturgical language. What kind of guarantees can you give to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church? What are your criteria to say that this church does not belong to you?
Cardinal Husar:There are certain churches, certain sanctuaries, which are national goods, which belong to Ukraine. Our position is this. Somebody has to take care of them. The Greek Catholic Church absolutely does not pretend to take over the Caves or the Pochaiv Monastery. Let the Moscow Patriarchate take care of that. But it is not their property. They are the caretakers of national sanctuaries. These are not sanctuaries that belong to them to the exclusion of others. Why cannot we come there? We cannot buy candles in the Monastery of the Caves? Why are we excluded? We have no pretence to say that it has to be ours. Since they are there, we accept this fact. But let the government not permit the Moscow Patriarchate to privatize these places and say: This is our property. Because it is the property of the Ukrainian nation, of which they are guardians in such a way as to let us and others come to visit and appreciate their spiritual goods.
-Q:But a Greek Catholic can freely pray today in the Caves of Kyiv?
Cardinal Husar:Yes, if he is not recognized. But I cannot come into the store and buy candles in the monastery. I will be asked: Are you Greek Catholic? And they will not sell it.
-Q:Let's speak of the international dialogue about the Greek Catholic Church. In Balamand (1993) the joint Catholic-Orthodox commission – to which the Greek Catholic Church was not called - on the one side has condemned Uniatism understood as a form of proselytism and on the other side has recognized the existence of the Greek Catholic Church as a church. What is your position concerning this resolution and how do you see the future today, because the international discussion was interrupted in Baltimore in 2000?
Cardinal Husar:If we take Uniatism in this classical way of trying to re-establish unity, we as well do not accept it. We were tricked into it. It was not the intention of our bishops at the end of the 16th century. But this was the political situation within the Polish kingdom of that time. And it was also the theological understanding of the Latin Church after the Council of Trent. But this is the past. And we would not like to have Uniatism used anymore as a way of establishing unity. However, we are a fact and our existence cannot be denied. Patriarch Bartholomew in his letter to the Pope says that he ought to do everything to diminish the Greek Catholic Church. What right does he have to say this? We are here. We have made this choice. If I were today faced with this situation of 400 years ago, I would certainly not choose the way in which it resulted at that time. Metropolitan Sheptytsky, my predecessor, in 1942 said very explicitly in letters to the Orthodox: This is not the way that we would like to conduct ourselves today. So he has in this sense condemned this way and we would not use it today. But we are children of the past, for which we are not responsible. But we are what we are. And one cannot tell us: Disappear! Become Latin or convert to the Orthodox confession! We wish to be Orthodox in the sense of being of this tradition. We have not always been very faithful to it. I think we have lost something on the way, which we have to regain. But we also wish to remain in communion with the Pope of Rome as the successor of Saint Peter, as the symbol of unity. We hope and we wish that all churches would be in this communion. And we consider, even if it is not through our own merit, that we could be a good example of what it means to be Catholic in the sense of being in communion with the successor of Peter and not losing in any way our religious or national identity.
-Q:But the Orthodox are saying that you were latinized in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. What are the guarantees in the 21st century that you will not lose freedom?
Cardinal Husar:It is true that we have been latinized. And this is the great merit of Metropolitan Sheptytsky at the beginning of the 20th century: that he tried to reverse this process. Personally, I consider myself a follower of Metropolitan Sheptytsky, together with many others who would like to get rid of all that has illegally entered into our spiritual, theological, liturgical, canonical heritage. We were told: If you want to be a real Catholic, you have to be Latin. And they pushed us into it. And it is only with Metropolitan Sheptytsky that we could say: Dear brothers from Rome, one can be Catholic without being Latin. And we were attacked on two fronts, Catholic-Latin and Orthodox-Byzantine. And we said: No, dear brothers, one can be Ukrainian, one can be Byzantine, one can be at the same time Catholic. These different elements do not contradict one another. So this is why neither the Latin Church nor the Orthodox Church is very happy with us.
-Q:What are the conditions to have eucharistic communion between the believers of the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church? Is it necessary to have the same theology of marriage, of filioque, of purgatory?
Cardinal Husar:[strong]No. Our attitude practically is that between the Orthodox and ourselves there are no differences in faith. Questions like purgatory, the Immaculate Conception or the filioque are theological concepts, not faith. And they of course are very different, but they are ultimately complementary. So they do not represent a different faith. They represent a different understanding of the gift of faith. What is our practical stand on intercommunion? If a Catholic finds himself in a position where there is no Catholic church around, he can freely go to the Orthodox church and receive sacraments. The same thing when an Orthodox cannot find an Orthodox priest, we don't deny him the sacraments, especially confession and holy Communion. The only problem is the scandal that it means, not to give the impression that it doesn't make a difference what you are. You are what you are. But the circumstances are such that you are in need and we are open to help you or to being helped.
Interview with Cardinal Lubomyr Husar
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