LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (05/19/02)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Fedynsky column right on target

Dear Editor:

Andrew Fedynsky's recent column regarding: "Linguistic attitudes and parallels" was right on target. I never knew Gogol was Ukrainian; neither did I realize Shevchenko spoke Russian!

While the Ukrainian diaspora avidly promotes the Ukrainian language, it should never ignore, despise, ostracise and abandon Ukrainian youth who failed to learn Ukrainian yet still are proud of their Ukrainian heritage. The Ukrainian diaspora is deeply flawed when they see language alone as a "sine qua non"!

In his memoirs "Special Tasks" Ukrainian NKVD Gen. Pavel Sudoplatov spoke Ukrainian so fluently that he was easily able to penetrate the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army), murder Col. Yevhen Konovalets and later brag how poorly the DPs in the West spoke Ukrainian.

To be truly Ukrainian is also a matter of the heart, of heritage and of the soul.

Andrew M. Senkowsky, D.D.S.
Van Etten, N.Y.

More on helping Ukraine's newborns

Dear Editor:

Unfortunately, I did not express myself clearly in the recent article headlined "CCRF continues relief work, with a focus on education," (May 5). I wish to clarify my statement. It is true that the neonatologists in Ukraine have many obstacles to overcome in advancing the level of care available to the neonates in Ukraine. One of the main obstacles is the lack of resources to purchase the needed equipment and supplies. The other obstacle is the general inability to obtain knowledge to provide the level of care equivalent to the care available in the Western World.

Using the U.S. model as an example, much of the equipment and supplies available in the U.S. is purchased through billing of patients who pay for services through private health insurance (if available) or Medicaid (government aid). In addition, grants from private foundations are occasionally available for some major purchases of equipment or improvement of facilities.

In contrast, Ukraine currently does not have a health insurance program that can provide sufficient payments to cover the costs of purchasing and operating the various equipment or the purchase of medicines needed for treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). I understand that the Ukrainian government has had many issues and problems to solve in the past several years since Ukraine become an independent nation. It has made some advances where possible. However, with mortality on the rise and the population growth in a general decline, as a physician, I think that health care should be one of the top priorities within the government budget. I believe that there are many diligent workers within the government working towards improving healthcare in Ukraine.

However, the fact remains that there is still an inadequate health system in Ukraine to provide the needed technology and medicines for the level of care comparable to that available in the West. This indicates that the Ukrainian government has quite a lot more work to do in providing more support for healthcare. Without health, there will be no wealth. Outside help from organizations such as the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund has been extremely helpful. In addition, private funding from some of the wealthier citizens/companies within Ukraine needs to be encouraged.

The current reality is that Ukrainian physicians have limited equipment and even less disposable supplies to keep the available equipment in good working condition. I wish to commend Ukraine's physicians for their creativity and resourcefulness in doing "the best they can" in helping sick babies with what they have. However, I explained to them that, in addition to acquiring the latest knowledge of how to treat sick newborns, their results in achieving the highest level of care will be limited by the availability of the needed equipment and supplies.

Finally, I wish to commend Nadia Matkiwsky and Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky and the entire staff of CCRF for the foresight in arranging to get not only the equipment but also the knowledge base to the Ukrainian NICU's. This ongoing process is needed to eventually bring the standard of care for critically ill neonates to the highest levels, as seen in the West.

Ihor Bilyk, M.D.
Fort Wayne, Ind.

The letter-writer is a neonatologist and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Further questions regarding UGCC

Dear Editor:

As always in his "Faces and Places" column, Myron Kuropas packs an impressive amount of thought and information into his article on Bishop Michael Wiwchar of Chicago (May 12). He has given us both a tribute to a distinguished hierarch and an insightful sketch of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in this country. Hopefully, Dr. Kuropas' position within the Ukrainian American community will allow him to develop further some of the points alluded to in this piece:

1. If "politics" and "exclusiveness" are a major cause of the decline in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in this country, what should be done about it? Won't a strategy of future growth based mainly or exclusively on evangelizing the Fourth Wave make the UGC Church in this country even more exclusive?

2. What has been the effect on the UGC Church in this country and in Europe of acquiescing in Rome's policy against ordaining married men to the priesthood outside Ukraine?

3. What will be the effect on the UGC Church in this country of continuing to rely on large numbers of European-born priests? What will be the effect on those priests and on the Church in Ukraine when they return after having served for years in a country and culture so different from their own?

4. Could the reluctance of UGC priests and people to become "mission-minded" reflect their confusion about what they are being urged to do? Do they see an inconsistency between the Gospel mandate to "teach all nations" and the idea that the future of their Church depends on evangelizing recent immigrants? Do American-born (non-Ukrainian-proficient) Ukrainian Greek-Catholics have any role in this evangelization effort?

5. Has the fragmentation of the Byzantine Catholic community in this country into Ukrainian, Ruthenian (Rusyn/Magyar/Croat), Melkite, Belarusian and Russian jurisdictions helped or hindered the growth of these Churches?

Timothy F. Stock
Arlington, Va.

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