FOR THE RECORD: Bishop Basil Losten's open letter to Orthodox patriarchs (04/04/04)

FOR THE RECORD: Bishop Basil Losten's open letter to Orthodox patriarchs

Following is the text of an open letter to Orthodox Patriarchs by Bishop Basil H. Losten, chairman, Ecumenical Commission, Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Synod of Bishops. The letter is dated March 1.

Your Holiness/Your Beatitude!

The basic principle of the ecumenical movement in Christianity relies upon seeking the truth in a spirit of charity. The movement itself depends upon honesty in acknowledging those wounds of the past that did not foster unity; an openness in the present to dialogue about all matters that affect the welfare of the Church; and a burning hope that the future might bring about Our Lord's most fervent desire: ut unum sint!

The recent chain of events set off by the Moscow Patriarchate and the massive polemical reaction it engendered in the Orthodox world is a step back from this most basic principle. The concept of a Ukrainian Catholic patriarchate in the city of Kyiv has been assailed universally in the Orthodox world even before it was even brought forth as a point of dialogue in the 21st century.

The polemics of the Moscow Patriarchate remind me of the famous saying of President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States at a critical point in the history of the United States, "My fellow citizens. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!" I am also reminded of another age-old adage: "There are three sides to every story: there is my side and your side, and then there is the truth!"

It is fear and not dialogue that has been conveyed to your office by the Patriarchate of Moscow. I, just as you, have had the same opportunity to read the many statements made by Orthodox hierarchs that appeared on Internet news services and am certainly flabbergasted by them! Could this tempest be anything farther than derailing us into a paralysis of fear of seeking the truth and relating to one another in a spirit of charity? I find it significant that there have been no verbal attacks upon the Moscow position either from the Holy Synod of Ukrainian Catholic Bishops nor from the Office of the Patriarch of First Rome!

The position of the Holy Synod of Ukrainian Catholic Bishops under the omophorion of the Patriarchal See of Rome is clear: our Church is an ecclesla sui juris within the internal structure of Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Patriarchal See of Peter. Its bishops have unanimously stated their declaration of a patriarchal structure to meet the needs of its faithful scattered throughout the world in many different canonical territories. This declaration has been formally presented from the Synod to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, for confirmation in the person of its Primate: His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, the Catholic Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych (Ukraine).

The polemics advocated by the Moscow Patriarchate presents an ecclesiological view that exists in a vacuum in the globalized world of today! It is a position that is based upon past privileges granted by Russian imperialism and godless Communism. There are no exclusive canonical territories either in the East or the West in the world of today - there are only territories of ancestral lineage. That is why any Patriarchate of the Orthodox or Catholic world may have a jurisdiction of influence anywhere in the world dictated by its own sacred canons. There are no boundaries for the exercise of spiritual patrimony!

The ancestral line of the Ukrainian Catholic Church to the metropolitan see of Kyiv is as valid a claim as any other pretenders! It was the metropolitan see of Kyiv (including present territories in Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania) gathered in synod of its bishops-suffragans that freely renewed full ecclesiastical ties with the See of Rome in 1595-1596. It was this see that had only one metropolitan bishop which was Catholic for a decade until the Patriarchate of Constantinople re-established an Orthodox hierarchy there in the early 17th century. It was in the 17th century that the Catholic and Orthodox metropolitan of Kyiv entered into dialogue on the question of the canonical establishment of a Kyivan patriarchate. It was in 1684 that the "Third Rome" usurped the relationship of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Kyiv with the Patriarchate of Constantinople - by subjugating the ancestral see under its omophorion by decree of the tsar and the intrigues of the Kozak hetmanate.

The polemics of "Uniatism" are once again rearing their ugly head. The only Uniate Church that exists in the world today is that which is deeply imbedded in the Orthodox psyche. The concept of one Church sui juris being not just united with but actually absorbed by another Church sui juris is a relic of the past and a deep scar in the history of all parties Involved. The Second Vatican Council clearly identifies the Eastern Churches in communion with the See of Rome under a different term: Eastern Catholic Churches. Since that historic gathering, the sacred canons of the Eastern Catholic Churches as well as all official documents of the See of Rome pertaining to its Eastern churches sui juris reveal a clear policy trumpeting the preservations and growth of each such Church in its traditions "whole and entire." To accuse the Ukrainian Catholic Church of being "a Uniate wolf in sheep's clothing" in this day and age is tantamount to accusing the Moscow Patriarchate of being "Uniate" in the 1980s because of its public policy of tolerating and using latinized practices in Ukraine as a way of keeping the local populace "happy" and satisfied with its jurisdictional leadership.

It is ironic how easy it is to sway from the ecumenical path of dialogue through polemical propaganda! It is much more difficult to remain in dialogue - to walk on a path together to Emmaus, dialoguing with the Lord who opens our hearts and minds to understanding rather than stopping still in the mud of our tracks. The world outside of the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate offers wonderful examples of what can be hoped for in dialogue.

I cite but a few examples: the Melkite Catholic Patriarchate with the Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem, the unofficial Congresses of the Syrian Catholic and Orthodox Churches brought together by "Pro Oriente"; the positive dialogue taking place between Greek-Catholics and Ukrainian Orthodox regarding the use of church properties of Zakarpatska Province [Zakarpattia Oblast] of Ukraine; the present fraternal encounters between the Ukrainian Catholic bishops of the Northern Hemisphere under the omophorion of the First Rome with the Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops of the Northern hemisphere under the omophorion of New Rome!

His holiness, Pope John Paul II, has constantly repeated one scriptural verse - from the opening sentence of his acceptance as the successor of Peter to virtually every document he has issued "Be not afraid!" Any future dialogue about the internal needs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in communion with Rome as well as with all other Sister Churches that bear the signs of unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity does not frighten us, for we are not a Church of proselytizers, nor do we seek anything that is rightfully ours. Perhaps the model of a decade-long growing existence of a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parish in the city of Athens, Greece, ministering to thousands of its faithful emigrating there for economic reasons can speak more about the intentions of the Ukrainian Catholic Church to preach the Gospel without prejudice or proselytism than any statement issued by the ecumenical officers of each respective Church.

We approach you in the fraternal spirit of charity, of love for one another. Our Slavic heritage sprang from the same land; the blood that courses through our veins nourishes the life we profess for our faith; our roots fed the same liturgical tradition. Let us meet together at the same table and share our fears, our thoughts and our aspirations as brothers in blood and in Christ. May our mutual love and respect for one another be so profound that the word will see that we are truly "children of God."

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