Scholars offer assessments of papal visit to Ukraine: Dr. Frank E. Sysyn (08/05/01)

Scholars offer assessments of papal visit to Ukraine

Dr. Frank E. Sysyn

Pope John Paul II's visit to Ukraine was an event of definitive historic significance as recorded on the pages of this newspaper. The Ukrainian Weekly deemed it appropriate to turn to scholars with expertise on the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, the religious situation in Ukraine and relations among the Vatican, the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church - to comment on the relevance, immediate consequences and potential impact of Pope John Paul II's visit in Ukraine and throughout the region. The series was prepared by Ika Koznarska Casanova.

DR. FRANK E. SYSYN, is director of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research, Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, and is the editor-in-chief of the Hrushevsky Translation Project. He writes widely on Church affairs in the early-modern and modern period. His publications include "Between Poland and Ukraine: The Dilemma of Adam Kysil, 1600-1653" (Cambridge, Mass., 1985) and the forthcoming volume from CIUS Press, "Religion and Nation in Modern Ukraine," co-authored with Dr. Serhii Plokhy. He is the consulting editor of volume 8 of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's, "History of Ukraine-Rus'," titled "The Cossack Age, 1625-1650," which is scheduled to appear early next year.

Q: Would you please offer a general assessment of Pope John Paul II's visit to Ukraine?

A: The most important fact about the pope's visit is that it occurred. To have waited any longer for more favorable circumstances (a Ukrainian government untainted by scandal or a resolution of the tensions among Ukrainian Orthodox Churches and the objections of the Moscow Patriarchate) might have meant that the elderly and ill pontiff might never have made the trip.

The pope's speeches were carefully crafted to answer the problems of contemporary Ukraine and their delivery in Ukrainian had tremendous significance. The siege mentality of the Ukrainian government limited access to the papal visit in Kyiv and the weather limited the crowds, but Ukrainian television carried his message to a broad audience. The celebration of a Greek-Catholic liturgy in Kyiv, where the Vatican has been less than wholehearted in support of the position of the Church, is a major breakthrough.

Obviously the Kuchma government tried to use the visit to improve its tainted image and used the media to do so. On the other hand, [the government] had no message to deliver, and its police cordons did not speak well for it.

Q: How do you think Pope John Paul II's visit will affect the religious situation in Ukraine, particularly the relationship between the four Ukrainian Churches: the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP)?

A: Pope John Paul II's visit has greatly strengthened the position of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Despite the Church's phenomenal regeneration, it has not had corresponding influence in Church and civil affairs in Ukraine. The refusal by Rome to recognize the patriarchate and the timidity of the Ukrainian Catholic hierarchy to assert the Church's right to one have weakened its hand. Regrettably the pope did not take the opportunity to resolve this issue favorably during his visit, and this must be a cause for concern. Nevertheless, the celebration of the Greek-Catholic liturgy in Kyiv and the tremendous organization of the papal visit in Lviv augur well for the Church's growth.

The beatification of the martyrs will give the Church additional authority and strengthen the memory of what havoc Soviet totalitarianism wreaked in Ukraine. The visit may have improved relations between Greek and Roman Catholics, though there were certain indications that the far smaller Roman Catholic Church strove to take control of the visit.

The Orthodox response to the papal visit was not appropriate to such a significant event. None of the Churches engaged the question as the beginning of an ecumenical dialogue. If the Orthodox viewed the visit as a challenge, they would have better addressed issues such as Roman centralism and emphasis on the primacy of the papacy, policies of the current pontiff that have worked against any understanding with the Orthodox Churches.

Instead, the Moscow Patriarchate chose to isolate itself and hurl groundless attacks against the Greek Catholics. All these policies discredited it in the eyes of the largely secular Ukrainian public. Clearly the Vatican wanted the pope to be received by Metropolitan Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church [MP].

By refusing any contacts, the Moscow Patriarchate left Orthodox representation to the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. These Churches were in a difficult situation. They are in the process of unity discussions and obtaining recognition from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, so they did not want to open themselves to charges of not fully upholding the Orthodox position. In addition, their following is concentrated in the areas where the Greek-Catholic Church is dominant (especially the UAOC), and they had to be mindful of their faithful's view that they are discriminated against in these regions.

Patriarch Filaret [UOC-KP] dealt with this situation diplomatically, even though he may well have seen the lack of a special meeting, rather than one of the framework of all Ukrainian religious groups, as demeaning to his office and Church.

Clearly the papal visit has been a catalyst to a new engagement of the division among the Orthodox in Ukraine that will soon be apparent in visits by the patriarchs of Moscow and eventually of Constantinople. If the Kyiv Patriarchate and the UAOC unite, the situation in the Orthodox world may begin to shift rapidly.

Q: Pope John Paul II's visit to various countries, e.g., Poland and throughout Latin America, often had far-reaching effects beyond the religious sphere. Could the pope's visit have a similar positive impact on Ukrainian civic and political development?

A: The papal visit provided the Ukrainian public with the example of a man of principle and faith who cared about their fate, a pastor. The visit may have a longer term impact in western Ukraine because it demonstrated that society can organize itself. Whether the visit will stimulate a political mobilization in western Ukraine, which has played its political cards so badly in the last decade, remains to be seen. While I do not expect the Greek-Catholic Church to enter politics by forming a Christian democratic party, the Church may well take a more active behind-the-scenes role.

The first indication of whether the Ukrainian government is reacting to the pope's visit will be whether it finally grants the much delayed official recognition to the Greek-Catholic Theological Academy in Lviv as a Ukrainian higher educational institution.

Q: How will the visit and the beatification of martyrs for the Church serve the further growth of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, strengthen its identity in western Ukraine and affect its possible expansion beyond western Ukraine? Why do you think conditions are not yet favorable for the beatification of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky? What are the impediments?

A: While the beatification of the martyrs was a significant act, the failure to beatify Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is just as significant. I would assume if it does not happen under this pontiff it will not happen. A pope not from Eastern Europe would not understand the complexities of Sheptytsky's world. Yet the pope's Polish heritage may play a negative role. The Polish hierarchy, including Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, himself now a candidate for beatification, long opposed the beatification of Metropolitan Andrey.

Q: It is assumed that Pope John Paul II would like to visit other countries that were once part of the Soviet Union, i.e., Kazakstan, Armenia, Belarus and, ultimately, Russia. How do you view the possibilities of these visits? Has the visit to Ukraine facilitated such subsequent visits or has it created difficulties?

A: Armenia will be an easy visit compared to Ukraine. There is one Oriental Church there, and there are few Uniates. The only possible point of contention will be if the pope's visit to the Armenian cathedral in Lviv indicates a renewed attempt to take it away from the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church and give it to the Armenian Uniates, who had it before the war but who are now a much smaller group that the Armenian Apostolic adherents in Lviv.

Kazakstan should not be a great problem, though efforts must be made that the pope not overlook the Ukrainians there. Belarus won't happen unless President Alyaksandr Lukashenka falls.

I think that the Moscow Patriarchate is waiting out the clock by delaying a papal visit to Russia and hoping it can cope better with the next pope. The Ukrainian trip will be an additional point of contention for the next few years.

Q: What is your assessment of the coverage of Pope John Paul II's visit to Ukraine by the Western media and the Ukrainian media?

A: Press coverage varied. The press corps, mostly situated in Moscow, at first took up the issue of the Moscow Patriarchate's objections and what the Ukraine visit might mean for an eventual Moscow visit. Generally the press had difficulty dealing with the religious dimension of the visit. Reporters such as Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times played fast and furious with the facts in interpreting the meaning of the statements by hierarchs.

In other cases the reporting got better as the correspondents travelled to Ukraine. Here Geoffrey York of the Toronto Globe and Mail must be commended for careful and comprehensive reporting. I am told the German press did a good job and had intelligent commentary.

While I do not hold that there is no such thing as bad news, I do believe the visit did give world focus to Ukraine. The Greek-Catholic Church in Lviv did an excellent job getting out information and using its diaspora English-speaking clergy to good effect.

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