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.
Refuting the Arguments Against the Establishment of a Ukranian Greek Catholic Patriarchat