Chicago prelate visits Ukraine, pays special visit to Ukrainian Catholic University
by Volodymyr Khitsyak
LVIV - Cardinal Francis George, Roman Catholic archbishop of the archdiocese of Chicago, visited the Lviv region and Kyiv from May 10 to 18. A highlight of his trip was a visit to the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU).
Among those in the cardinal's delegation were Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Richard Seminack of Chicago, Msgr. Martin Canavan of St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Cherry Hill, N.J., and John F. Kurey, Esq., president of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation.
Cardinal George's first stop was St. George Cathedral in Lviv, where he was greeted by Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. On May 11, the two cardinals concelebrated a memorial divine liturgy at the cathedral on the 40th day after the death of Pope John Paul II.
At the end of the liturgy, Cardinal George told the assembled faithful that it was a great pleasure to take part in prayer for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II who, in the cardinal's words, was a true mystic and a person of great prayer.
"This pope transformed the papal ministry," the cardinal said. "He was open to the whole world, and we saw that a significant part of the world was present at his funeral. I am sure that this image of ministry and mission to the whole world will remain."
Later that afternoon Cardinal George gave a press conference at the Ukrainian Catholic University. "This is my first visit to Ukraine," the cardinal told reporters. "One of the reasons I came to Ukraine was my desire to visit the Ukrainian Catholic University, for in Chicago a special foundation has been created that tries as much as possible to help this growing institution."
"The university is developing successfully and I'm confident this will continue," he noted. "I want to get to know it better so that I can share my impressions with the faithful in Chicago. I also want to get to know your church better, to visit my brother bishops in Lviv and Kyiv and to take part in the pilgrimage to the monastery in Univ."
On May 12 Cardinal George concelebrated divine liturgy in the Byzantine rite at the chapel of the Ukrainian Catholic University and then spoke to the students.
Before the cardinal's talk, the Rev. Borys Gudziak, rector of the UCU, introduced him: "Before this, Cardinal George had never been to Ukraine, never seen the UCU. But, not having seen it, he still believed in its purpose and its mission. So he has already been our faithful friend and helper for a long time."
The UCU press office noted that Cardinal George is the 12th cardinal to visit the institution since it was revived as the Lviv Theological Academy in 1994.
On the afternoon of May 12 the cardinal visited Holy Spirit Seminary, another Ukrainian Catholic institution, which his predecessor as archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, visited in the early 1990s.
On May 13 the cardinal celebrated mass in Lviv's Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption and visited the region's Roman Catholic seminary in Briukhovychi.
The evening of May 14 Cardinal George visited the town of Peremyshliany, Lviv region, to celebrate a moleben (prayer service) to Blessed Emilian Kowcz. One of the new martyrs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001. Blessed Emilian was the parish priest in Peremyshliany from the 1920s through the 1940s.
In the modern world, fear often rules people, said Cardinal George during his sermon at the prayer service. But the example of Blessed Emilian teaches us not to fear, for the Lord is with us, noted the cardinal.
On May 15 he concelebrated divine liturgy at Holy Dormition Lavra (Major Monastery) of the Studite order in Univ for youth who gathered there as part of an annual foot pilgrimage.
The next day the cardinal traveled to Kyiv, where, among his stops, he visited the construction site of the new Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Resurrection, the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves and St. Sophia Sobor.
He returned to Chicago on May 18.
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Further information about the UCU in English and Ukrainian is available on the university's website at www.ucu.edu.ua. Readers may also contact the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622; phone, (773) 235-8462; e-mail, ucef@ucef.org; website, www.ucef.org. In Canada, the address of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation is 265 Bering Avenue, Toronto, ON M8Z 3A5.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 5, 2005, No. 23, Vol. LXXIII
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