The election of a new archbishop
for a church with 6.5 million Catholics could hold the key to
determining if or when Pope Benedict XVI may meet Russian Orthodox
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
Vatican officials are watching the Ukrainian Catholic Church's
leadership with keen interest, but without the degree of anxiety for its
ecumenical implications that would have been present even five years
ago.
Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of
Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian church, Feb. 10, about two weeks
before his 78th birthday.
The cardinal, who as major archbishop of the
Eastern Catholic church could have served for life, is almost blind and
asked to retire.
The 45 Ukrainian Catholic bishops from Ukraine and other countries of
Europe, North and South America and Australia must meet within two
months to elect a successor; Pope Benedict must assent to the election
before the new major archbishop can be installed.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern churches in
full communion with Rome, and it is pivotal in ecumenical relations.
When Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Catholic Church
was forcibly united with the Russian Orthodox Church and became
illegal. During 45 years under communist rule, the push for Ukrainian
independence and the demand for religious freedom for Ukrainian
Catholics often went in hand in hand. The growth of Ukrainian democracy
after independence in 1991 occurred at the same time as the church was
being rebuilt.
However, the return of religious freedom meant that many Christians who
were worshipping as Orthodox decided to return to their Ukrainian
Catholic roots. Church properties that had been confiscated by the
government or given by the government to the Orthodox were re-claimed by
Ukrainian Catholics in situations that occasionally included violence
between Catholics and Orthodox.
Basically since 1991 the Russian Orthodox, previously a prime force in
search for Catholic-Orthodox unity, have said they could not agree to a
meeting between the Russian Orthodox patriarch and the pope until
Catholic-Orthodox tensions in Ukraine are resolved.
A Vatican official knowledgeable about the ecumenical situation in Ukraine told Catholic News Service Feb. 10 that Catholic-Orthodox relations are "rather calm right now, but every once in a while the tensions return."
The real concern is about tensions between different Orthodox churches
in Ukraine and how that is being influenced by the year-old government
of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a member of the Orthodox
Church in communion with the Russian Orthodox's Moscow patriarchate and a
politician who has promised to strengthen political and economic ties
with Russia.
His support for the Orthodox in communion with Moscow appears to have
fueled long-standing tensions between Orthodox loyal to Moscow and those
who support an independent Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
"Problems within the Orthodox Church have visibly worsened with the
political change" of Yanukovych's election and may prove more dangerous
than Catholic-Orthodox tensions, the Vatican official said. "It hurts
more when brothers fight than when cousins do," he said.
In the past couple of years, he said, ecumenically "there have been no
important steps forward, but no big steps backward either."
Observers credit Cardinal Husar's leadership with being a key reason
Catholic-Orthodox tensions have not worsened, and they also praise his
efforts to champion the rights and dignity of the Eastern Catholic
churches in an overwhelmingly Latin-rite church.
Father Borys Gudziak, rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in
Lviv, said Yanukovych's policies have plunged Ukraine into a "political
crisis" and many people were shocked that Cardinal Husar, "the most
respected moral authority in the country," would resign at such a time.
"From an ecclesial point of view, it seems the government is moving
toward a state-church model like in Russia," Father Gudziak said.
Yanukovych has met repeatedly with the leaders of the Orthodox in union
with Moscow, and the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church has
"expressed concern over the government-assisted transfer of three
parishes from its jurisdiction" to the jurisdiction of the church united
with Moscow, he said.
From his point of view, he said, the Ukrainian Catholic Church needs to
elect a successor to Cardinal Husar who can articulate compelling
reasons for faith, keep Ukrainian Catholics united and promote Christian
unity, "a topic to which Cardinal Husar has devoted some of his most
eloquent statements and his best energy."
"Thanks to Cardinal Husar's work, there is good harmony in the synod and
among religious orders, and the number of priests has returned to its
pre-World War II total -- 2,500 priests just in Ukraine," he said.
Father Gudziak said that no matter who the synod chooses to lead the
church, the leader will face the challenge of getting all Ukrainian
Catholics to take personal responsibility for the church and its mission
rather than giving in to "a syndrome of 'waiting for Moses,' of
shirking responsibility and thinking, 'Let the big guy do it.'"