June 14, 2019

Washington conference focuses on future of Ukrainian Catholic Church in North America

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WASHINGTON – Thursday, June 6, the fifth day of the week-long events surrounding the inauguration of the ministry of Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak under the motto “From Heart to Heart,” was devoted to a conference in Washington on the future of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in North America. With speakers on topics ranging from abuse to xenophobia, citing sources from Evagrius Ponticus to Jordan Peterson, the colloquium was neither narrowly academic nor strictly ecclesiastical, but reached deep into the needs and concerns of laity as well as clergy.

Immediately preceding the conference, the head of the Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav, presided over a hierarchical divine liturgy at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family. The newly enthroned Metropolitan Borys and several hierarchs officiated, while the Ukrainian Catholic University choir sang the responses.

The conference participants then gathered in the auditorium for breakfast. The Rev. Prof. Mark Morozowich, dean of theology at the Catholic University of America (CUA), greeted the assembled hierarchs, clergy, monastics and laity. Then the entire group, many in black monastic headdress and robes, proceeded in the 90-degree heat across the CUA campus to Maloney Hall for the conference.

According to the conference announcement, discussions would focus on the themes of the “Heart to Heart” program: “the beauty and art of living well in unity with God and neighbor, youth and children, and a grateful appreciation of God’s graces.” In his breakfast remarks, Metropolitan Borys had called on his fellow clerics for a moratorium on criticism and negativity, inviting all to a constructive discussion. Taking place between Ascension Day and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the conference was envisioned as a prayer of God’s people “as we choose to trust and open our hearts to the Lord and our neighbors.” At the center of its mission the Church would place youth, articulating the Gospel “in an idiom of the 21st century.”

The conference was open to all. Clergy and laity of both the Latin and Byzantine rites, monks and nuns, Orthodox as well as Catholics, young and old, Americans and visitors from Ukraine and other countries, could be seen among the numerous participants. Father Morozowich introduced Patriarch Sviatoslav, who led the participants in praying the “Our Father.”

University President John Garvey then made the major announcement of the conference: a $5 million gift from Bishop emeritus Basil Losten for Ukrainian studies at CUA, focusing on theology, graduate studies and research.

Archbishop Metropolitan Borys spoke next, promising that this academic encounter would not be a stereotypical one. Thanking Bishop Basil for the generous endowment, he reminded the audience that the university, one of the most respected institutions in the modern world, was an invention of the Catholic Church. He asked whether the Church uses the university as it should. Truth, he said, can only be discovered through dialogue and dispute, but above all when we meet “heart to heart” in a triangular relationship including God. We need Catholic universities to witness to that relationship. In these days of waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit, he asked, can we open our hearts, minds, and souls for His arrival?

Turning to the history of his Church, the metropolitan pointed out that it had survived a colossal and determined attempt to destroy the relationship between God and humanity. In order to understand how the Lord is calling us to live today – what we should say, and how we should say it – we need critical thought and reflection. The university helps us to do that, he continued.

Turning to the topic of unity, Metropolitan Borys stressed the importance of Orthodox participation in the conference. He warned, however, that “the Divider is at work” throughout the human community. Wars rage in Ukraine and around the world. Unity among generations is important too, for the human race – its values, mindsets and world views – has changed more in the last 50 years than in the last 5,000. It is therefore time, said the metropolitan, to listen to young people. Here in the metropolia they can be free and creative, and their abilities and talents will be accepted and appreciated. “Let us begin,” he concluded, “led and inspired by our youth.”

The heart of the matter

Father Morozowich then presented the moderator of the first panel, titled “Heart to Heart,” the Rev. Dr. Stefanos Alexopoulos. A Greek Orthodox priest and faculty member at CUA, Father Alexopoulos introduced the panelists. Dr. Julie Dezelski, assistant director for marriage and family at the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, opened the discussion. She pointed out that the “heart to heart” dialogue takes place primarily in the family, which teaches relationships, self-knowledge and love of God. Dr. Susan Timoney observed that young people desire mentors who, speaking their language, can help them to discern who they are and who they are called to be. Dr. Robin Darling Young, a professor of early Christian history, traced the phrase “heart to heart” to John Henry Newman, St. Augustine, John Cassian, Luke, Paul and the Psalms.

The Rev. Dr. Andrij Chirovsky of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies in Toronto, perhaps subtly referencing Pope John Paul II’s 1990 apostolic constitution “Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” reminded the audience that the university is “at the heart of the church.” Heart and intellect, he stressed, need to work together. The Christian East offers a heart-centered spirituality, recognizing that the intuitive intellect relates us to God and our fellow humans.

Following on this last point, Father Morozowich raised questions about identity, community, and communion. To live in truth, we need to see the image of the Lord in our neighbor. In this regard, Father Chirovsky noted that when we talk to homeless people, the most important thing is to ask them their names, because that gives them their humanity; similarly, when we give holy communion, we pronounce the name of the person receiving. Young people, he continued, are particularly hungry for authenticity and integrity. Lamenting the loss of a sense of truth, he described our times as a state of war in which our consciousness is under siege by destructive influences. After questions and answers, the conference broke for lunch.

Unity, not uniformity

The first afternoon panel was devoted to unity. Dr. Young introduced the first speaker, the Rev. Alexopoulos, who had moderated the previous panel. He pointed out that Eastern Catholics and Orthodox share more than what divides them. Maria Muñoz-Visoso referred to Pope Francis’s 2014 statement that “unity does not imply uniformity.” Nor, she added, does it mean loss of identity.

The Rev. Dr. Peter Galadza warned that the phrase, popular among Ukrainians, about “the unity of Church and people” (yednist tserkvy i narodu) has been used to defend ethnocentrism — a mistake of the Third Wave of Ukrainian emigration (which treated the Church as a surrogate for statehood) that the Fourth Wave should not repeat. He also cautioned against a distrust of scholarship and inquiry, which could skew the Church’s mission. In his view, unity means overcoming distances and looking each other in the eye.

The Rev. Dr. Thomas Pott recommended the formulations “united, not absorbed” and “the Other is me” as bywords of unity. Ethnic traditions should serve unity, not division. The Rev. Dr. Bohdan Prach, rector of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, referred to the concept of “becoming an icon,” that is, being spiritually transformed. Where no one has become an icon, there can be no community.

In brief follow-ups, Father Galadza quizzed the audience on the four defining aspects of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church (answer: spirituality, liturgy, discipline and theology – the last being the least recognized). These unique traits make it a missional Church. Pointing out that a history of persecution thrusts Churches into self-preservation mode, Father Alexopoulos argued that although the Byzantine Church was historically outward-looking, it had become inward-looking. Finally, Ms. Muñoz, drawing on her experience with young Latinos, observed that a lack of spiritual rootedness can even lead to suicide.

In the lively question-and-answer session, among the issues raised was the liturgical commemoration of hierarchs, Eastern Catholic monastic life, the re-evangelization of North America, and expanding the concept of Ukrainian community to include people of varied ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds. Father Galadza remarked that, while the Third Wave produced a lot of youthful enthusiasm for the Ukrainian cause, especially after the Maidan, what was neglected was true Christian discipleship and personal dedication to Jesus Christ.

The perennial youth problem

These comments led to the topic of youth, which the final panel took up after a break. Tetiana Stawnychy of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops introduced the speakers. Layman Julian Hayda of Chicago cited some alarming statistics on linguistic assimilation, generation by generation. Retaining our Church identity, he remarked, is a lot of work, and we have to clean up our own house before we bring in non-Ukrainians. To do that, we must be open, welcoming, willing to intervene on a personal level and intentional in our prayer. Our social consciousness, awakened in Ukraine’s Maidan, equips us as a global Church to foster solutions in situations outside Ukraine, too, for example in dealing with colonialism, racism and xenophobia.

Panelist Kylyna Kurochka noted that in the Ukrainian Catholic Church, young people often cannot relate to the sermons and perceive the liturgy as being always the same. Consequently, the Church has to go out to them, using social media to address them directly. The next speaker was Kyle Hayes, a former Lutheran pastor who is now a parishioner at the UCC’s Front Royal Mission in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. To him, the Ukrainian Church, seeking what is real, what is true and what is beautiful, offers something beyond “moralistic therapeutic deism” (a phrase coined by Smith and Denton in a 2005 study of American teenage religiosity).

The British-born Father Joseph Matlak, now of Charlotte, N.C., recognized that for a young person, the decision to join the Church can be lonely and difficult. It takes courage (a word derived, incidentally, from the Latin for “heart”). Lest we tradition-bound Ukrainian Catholics become mere museum curators, he advised, we must model holiness, for only “attractive, coherent and authentic models” of Christian life can attract youth.

Deacon Daniel Galadza, currently a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Regensburg, pointed out that North America has a culture of openness. Church scandals have demonstrated the need for transparency. Cyril Kennedy bluntly stated that today, young people in general don’t trust the Church. It has hardly any cultural capital left. A “heart to heart” conversation is therefore most welcome, but we must also recognize the many broken hearts, the sexual and financial abuse, which have prompted people to leave.

These last comments elicited several responses from the audience. One young woman described the woundedness of those who had witnessed the Church scandals. She also wondered how we can relate to people from eastern Ukraine who did not grow up in the Church, know nothing of Christianity, but want to be a part of the community. Another member of the audience complained that the UCC’s long “Orthodox” liturgies drive young people to Roman Catholic parishes. In reply, Father Matlak reported that in his experience, children actually wanted more services, for they could perceive the beauty of the rite. To a question about how to reach those who had left the Church, Mr. Hayda related his group’s practice of reading and prayer: being able to read liturgical texts in English, rather than simply chanting them, brings out their meaning. In a tearful testimony, a high school nurse related how an unmarried pregnant student who had chosen to have her baby rather than abort it was mocked, abused and ridiculed by her schoolmates until she finally left the school. Today, the nurse concluded, Christians live in an atmosphere of hostility.

The conference was followed by Vespers at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family, with Bishop Basil presiding and Father Morozowich and Father-Deacon Volodymyr Radko celebrating. The Ukrainian Catholic University choir provided the responses. If the Byzantine liturgy, as is sometimes said, foreshadows the Kingdom of Heaven, then the singing of the UCU choir was a foretaste of angelic song. After Vespers, a reception and banquet were held in the shrine auditorium.

Although he humbly maintained a low profile throughout the proceedings, the hero of the day was Bishop Basil. This was not only because of his founding gift for Ukrainian studies at CUA. It was also because of his example of lifelong dedication to his Church and people.

“Heart to Heart” was not just a conference theme. It characterized the event itself. For this observer, it was an occasion to see old and dear friends. For the laity in general, it was a rare opportunity to meet and get to know our hierarchs, clergy and brothers and sisters in consecrated life. For Ukrainian Catholics, it was a much-needed encounter with both Roman Catholics and Orthodox.

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