LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Missionary work or proselytizing?
Dear Editor:
The article "Cardinal Lubomyr Husar describes changes in the life of formerly clandestine Church" by Alexandra Hawryluk (March 18) includes information about the mission of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine today.
One of the missions of the Church, as stated by Archbishop Major Lubomyr is "...to bring Christ to those brothers and sisters who are distant from God." The cardinal says he does not want to convert people belonging to other Churches, but according to him "... there are a lot of people, approximately 40 to 45 percent of the population of Ukraine, who are living without God. They need to be encouraged to embrace a life based on Christian principles."
Most of the mission-oriented Churches in the West also believe that about half of the population of Ukraine live without God despite the fact that there is reliable statistical data on the religious situation in Ukraine that tell a different story.
In 2000 the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies (UCEPS), with the organizational and financial assistance of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine, conducted an extensive sociological survey about the confessional and religious situation in Ukraine. For the first time such a survey was conducted in all of the country's regions. The collected statistical data and analysis were published in the Ukrainian and English editions of National Security and Defense, the official publication of the UCEPS, No.10. The publication of this magazine was limited - only 1,500 copies, most of which were distributed to the members of the Parliament, government officials, as well as professors and students of religious and secular educational establishments in Ukraine
In the chapter "Faith and Religion in the Life of the Ukrainians," data are given on self-identification of Ukraine's population with regard to faith and religion. These data are given in percentages. Below, these percentages are converted into numbers using the approximate population of Ukraine as 50 million.
The results of the survey are as follows:
One of the surprises of this survey was that the religious persecution and anti-religious propaganda in the Soviet Union were not as successful as originally feared. Despite the aggressive atheistic pressure of the Soviet regime, over 85 percent of the population of Ukraine, or 42.5 million, has been "initiated" into one or another religion.
Of those who were "initiated" into religion, 88 percent, or 37.4 million, were baptized in accordance with Orthodox canons; 9 percent, or 3.8 million, were baptized into the Greek-Catholic Church; 0.4 million each, into the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches: 0.3 million were "initiated" into Islam; and 0.1 million into Judaism.
The above data indicate that it is incorrect to state that 40 to 45 percent of the population of Ukraine "live without God." Only about 15 to 19 percent of the people are indifferent to religion, are non-believers or atheists. It cannot be considered that those who are "hesitant between belief and disbelief," "live without God." Like most of us, they are seeking God.
The position of Cardinal Husar "to bring Christ to those who are distant from God" is welcomed, providing the missionary work of Greek-Catholic Church would be directed toward those 15 percent to 19 percent of the people of Ukraine who were never initiated into any religion or lost their faith.
But if the missionary work of any Church would be directed toward 40 percent to 45 percent of the people of Ukraine, it would be an attempt to proselytize their own religion among the people - the majority of whom were baptized into the Orthodox faith.
Michael Heretz
Rutherford, N.J.
Editorial recalls another reflection
Dear Editor:
Your editorial and reflection "A check-up for our community" (March 30) reminded me of a similar reflection, "On Giving Thanks" published in the first (spring 1996) issue of the Newsletter of the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in the nation's capital.
I was seeking a central idea or theme that would keep us Ukrainians together, active and enjoying our common heritage. I found it in the idea of Thanksgiving to God and country, an idea that entwines our ethnic heritage with our American heritage, one that is as much American as Ukrainian. Deacon Theophil Staruch wrote a sequel in the 1997 spring Newsletter.
The 2002 Summit of Ukrainian American Organizations was an excellent idea. We at the National Shrine joined in and had our own booth at the summit. Why not think of it as an "Annual Summit and an Ecumenical Day of Gratitude and Thanksgiving to God and Country," a celebration of the fact that our forbears had the opportunity to come to and be welcomed in America? That included sharing in America's opportunities, freedom and democracy, while continuing to enjoy our ethnic values and heritage as well as helping the motherland.
This idea very much needs to have a national expression of that gratitude and thanksgiving that also reflects the growing entwinement of our Ukrainian heritage with our American heritage and culture. It should be a live and living symbol of thanksgiving and entwinement within the American setting and culture. The Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington, seen in the ecumenical sense, is a candidate for such symbolic expression.
I am a regular subscriber to The Ukrainian Weekly. It is a first-class newspaper by any standard and is itself a great symbol of the entwinement of our Ukrainian and American heritages.
John Fedkiw
Bethesda, Md.
The letter-writer is the current editor of the UCN Shrine Newsletter.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 13, 2003, No. 15, Vol. LXXI
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