Maxim Hermaniuk: his words, wisdom (05/19/96)

Maxim Hermaniuk: his words, wisdom

by Christopher Guly

OTTAWA - For the Rev. Andriy Chirovsky, Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk was an "elder statesman" of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

"His wisdom on the potential for collegiality of a worldwide Catholic communion and Catholic-Orthodox relations will be sorely missed," said the Rev. Chirovsky, who arrived in Ottawa six years ago to head the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute for Eastern Christian Studies at Saint Paul University.

The institute and the Rev. Chirovsky as its director - along with the revival of the quarterly theological journal, Logos, which he founded in 1950 - were among Metropolitan Hermaniuk's accomplishments.

"He was certainly a man of vision, who knew where the Church should be headed into the 21st century," the Rev. Chirovsky told The Weekly. "He knew the future had to be based on some kind of new generation of leaders."

Some of the late archbishop's ideas and leadership have yet to be embraced. Episcopal collegiality through a permanent synod of bishops elected for a specific term has yet to be implemented. The Hermaniuk model on Catholic-Orthodox unity, in which the pope would chair a group composed of the heads of autocephalous Orthodox churches and elected representatives from the Catholic Church's national bishops' conferences, also remains an elusive dream.

Feeling "devastated" at hearing the news of his mentor's death on May 3, the Rev. Chirovsky took solace in remembering what Archbishop Hermaniuk had once told him. "He told me, 'The Church needs two brains. One, in Lviv, and the other in Ottawa, where our own Church can think for us.' This man was the wisest among our bishops, the greatest thinker of our synod of bishops."

The Rev. Chirovsky plans to lobby for a Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk Chair at the institute, and, in the next couple of years, hopes to release a collection of the archbishop's interventions at the Second Vatican Council as well as subsequent world synods of bishops.

"His lifelong dedication to ecumenism and participating in the Kyivan Church Study Group, I believe, will prove his visions of unity vindicated," said the Rev. Chirovsky.

For 45 years, Metropolitan Hermaniuk's wisdom gave the impression he did a significant part of the forward-thinking for the church - and the Ukrainian community in Ukraine, where he visited several times in the last five years, and the diaspora. He could engage in personal conversation with John Paul II and chat with kids attending Ukrainian summer camp in Manitoba. Sometimes, his words were profound; other times, straightforward.

* * *

"I enjoyed being bishop not in terms of it being the highest authority and as successor to the apostles. It was a gift from the Lord, and I was very happy to have this chance to work for the people as their bishop." - In a 1987 interview with The Weekly.

"Today's society is very pluralistic, very cosmopolitan. We need to get closer to a milieu of Ukrainian mentality without becoming a ghetto." - In a 1987 interview with The Weekly.

"It means that you see so many problems, advise so many people. You have to make some very important decisions. Sometimes, you feel a little bit lonely. It's not unlike political life, but it's spiritual and more important." - On being a bishop when his December 29, 1992, retirement was approved by the Holy See.

"I want to tell you that I will be here for you any time, anywhere and in any way to serve the Church." - At the March 9, 1993, episcopal ordination of his successor, Archbishop-Metropolitan Michael Bzdel.

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