Ukrainian Catholic bishops convene synod to elect primate of Church (01/28/01)

Ukrainian Catholic bishops convene synod to elect primate of Church

by R.L. Chomiak
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

LVIV - The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church began its work here on Wednesday, January 24, with the principal topic on the agenda being the election of a new primate for the Church, a successor to Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky who died on December 14, 2000, at the age of 86.

In the morning of January 24, 26 hierarchs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church from four continents and the papal nuncio in Ukraine crossed the courtyard from the Metropolitan's Palace to St. George Cathedral to begin their historic conclave with a liturgy.

The synod opened 100 years after Andrey Sheptytsky became the archbishop and metropolitan of the Lviv See. For 43 years the cathedral had served as his base and that of his successor, Patriarch and Cardinal Josyf Slipyj. But, from 1946, when the Soviet government forced the Ukrainian Catholic Church underground, until 1991 it was in the hands of the Russian Orthodox Church. With Ukraine's independence St. George Cathedral once again became the headquarters of the Ukrainian Catholic Church worldwide.

It was Metropolitan Sheptytsky who reformed, renewed and globalized the Church that until his tenure had been limited to a corner of the Austro-Hungarian empire known as Eastern Galicia. It was he who started sending priests to the continents where Ukrainian Catholics were settling; as a result, today there are 34 Ukrainian Catholic bishops and archbishops around the world.

The main purpose of this synod is to elect a new archbishop major - the "head and father" of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church to replace Cardinal Lubachivsky - and by the end of the second day of deliberations a successor had not yet been elected. Every Ukrainian Catholic bishop has a vote in the deliberations; each is eligible to be elected.

The conclave was held behind closed doors in the archbishop major's headquarters, but the liturgy offered for the repose of the soul of Cardinal Lubachivsky was open to the public.

Bishop Lubomyr Husar, the administrator of the Church, delivered a homily that was the keynote for the conclave. He called the service "a liturgical act at the turn of centuries and at the juncture of epochs." During the past 100 years, Bishop Husar said, the Lviv See was led by rare individuals - the three metropolitans who formally held the office, Sheptytsky, Slipyj and Lubachivsky, and Archbishop Volodymyr Sterniuk, who led the Church while it was in the catacombs.

He noted that before the synod there was much speculation among the faithful and in the media about who would follow in the footsteps of these four churchmen. He warned that it was dangerous to focus on "one person who will solve all the problems of the Church," because, as a result, "we may forget about our collective responsibility" toward the Church.

The person elected as primate of the UGCC must have the support of the entire Church, and "the creative cooperation of all the bishops, the religious orders and the faithful," Bishop Husar said. He also pointed out that it is fashionable nowadays to criticize leaders and recalled that even the great Metropolitan Sheptytsky had to deal with opposition to his rule. He called for "repentance of all our mistakes of the past century" and for unity - which "does not mean saying yes to everything, and it does not mean a ban on criticism." He called the synod "an act of renewal," adding that its "honorable duty" is to elect a leader who will help rebuild the Church and Ukraine.

Archbishop-Metropolitan Stephen Sulyk of Philadelphia was elected chairman of the synod. Other U.S. bishops attending are Basil Losten, Walter Paska and Michael Wichar. Also among the participants is Canadian Bishop Stepan Soroka, who has been nominated to replace Archbishop Sulyk, who is retiring, as metropolitan for Ukrainian Catholics in the United States.

The results of the synod were impossible to predict days before the bishops gathered.

Among the leading candidates for the next UGCC primate has been Bishop Husar, who was the de facto manager of the Church for the past few years while Cardinal Lubachivsky was in poor health. As administrator of the Church, Bishop Husar called the synod. The Lviv tabloid Express reported the results of a poll showing that 97 percent of priests and the laity are for Bishop Husar to head the UGCC.

Ivan Hel, a lay Church leader during the Soviet regime, wrote a somewhat bitter article in the January 18 issue of Ukraina Moloda claiming that the diaspora, with so many more bishops and fewer faithful, has too much influence at the synod deliberations. (Bishop Husar, who was born in Lviv, became a priest and bishop in the diaspora.) This is so, because while there are about 6 million Ukrainian Catholics in Ukraine, there are eight eparchies, while between 1 million and 2 million Ukrainians Catholics in the diaspora have more than 20 bishops.

But, as the Canadian-born Rev. Ken Nowakowski, former chief of staff for Cardinal Lubachivsky pointed out, 10 years ago there were three eparchies in Ukraine and now there are eight, and with more new bishops and auxiliary bishops nominated to serve the faithful in Ukraine, the Ukrainian-born could have a majority relatively soon.

In an interview published a week before the synod in Stolichniye Novosti (a serious Ukrainian newspaper, published mostly in Russian; though the interview by Lesya Kharchenko was in Ukrainian), Bishop Husar offered his opinion that among the Ukrainian Catholic hierarchy today there is no one of the stature of Metropolitan Sheptytsky or Patriarch Josyf. "Therefore, we have to look for a person who in the political world is known as a technocrat, a professional [to run the Church at this time]. But there is one very important thing for the Church: whoever is elected would have to emphasize the development of the spiritual life of the Church, because that is the reason for its existence," Bishop Husar noted.

Bishop Husar also downplayed the importance of a patriarchal structure for the Ukrainian Catholic Church, although he said that Ukrainian bishops again discussed this issue at the Vatican last December. (The archbishop major has all the rights of a patriarch, but his election has to be ratified by the pope.) The idea of a patriarchate for the Ukrainian Catholic Church goes back to the 17th century, he recalled. Cardinal Slipyj, he said, brought up the need for a patriarchal structure for the Ukrainian Church at the Vatican Council II in 1963.

"Many of our people became enthusiastic about the idea, without fully understanding it," Bishop Husar pointed out. "Even today many are attracted to the idea of a Patriarchate, but most don't understand what it is and what is its purpose. There are different points of view on it even among the bishops, but we are discussing it and out of these differences of opinion a common point of view is crystallizing."

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