Ecumenical Dialog: The Ideal and the Reality
INTRODUCTION
The Catholic Church has finally and irreversibly decided on an ecumenical dialog. Naturally, we proceed from the underlying resolutions of the Second Vatican Council, later reaffirmed and revised in numerous papal documents in which His Holiness John Paul II resolutely emphasized the obligation of the Catholic Church to develop a dialog with other religious communities. His Holiness quoted from the Lord’s prayer at the Last Supper: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us... It is the ideal of unity which must be achieved, following the winding and demanding ecumenical path.
A theological dialog is of vital importance for the rapprochement of the Christian churches. When John Paul II met with Demetrios I, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1979, they conceived the idea of a joint international commission to conduct a theological dialog between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Regrettably, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, tensions between the churches mounted, among other things because the Ukrainian Greek Catholics took advantage of the religious freedom and restored their Church, banned after World War II.
The Catholic Church in Ukraine shares the ecumenical obligations of the entire Catholic Church. Pope John Pole II’s apostolic visit to Ukraine in 2001 was of utmost importance. The presence of the Bishop of Rome, his actions, and primarily his teaching cannot be overestimated ecumenically. In his first address, after kissing Ukrainian soil, the Holy Father greeted the faithful of different confessions that were open for a dialog and cooperation: “I wish to assure them that I arrived here not for a proselytical purpose, but to uphold the Teaching of Christ, together with all Christians of every Church and every Christian community.” The Pontiff knew only too well that upholding the Teaching and brotherly love was easier said than done, for too many stereotypes, mutual grievances, and intolerant practices had accumulated over the past several centuries. He saw the only way to overcome reciprocal distrust in forgetting the past, asking for and offering forgiveness for offences taken.
UKRAINIAN CATHOLICS
Ukraine is one of the largest European countries, in terms of territory and population. Geographically, it is a bridge between the East and West. It is also very interesting from the religious point of view. Most residents believe they belong to the Orthodox world — at least from the sociological and cultural standpoints. Yet there is also a large and dynamic Catholic community. Statistics point to 6,000,000 Catholics, including 5,000,000 adherents of the Byzantine rite (i.e., Greek Catholics) and 1,000,000 of the Latin rite (Roman Catholics). Both rites are deeply rooted in this country. A structurally balanced Roman Catholic diocese was founded in the second half of the 14th century in Przemysl, so the Catholics at present are true to the genuine Ukrainian tradition.
BRIEF HISTORICAL NOTES
To fully comprehend the current status of the Catholic Church and its relationships with other churches and confessions, one must bear in mind the Ukrainian people’s recent dramatic history. The Communist regime persecuted all churches. At the outset it was also after the Russian Orthodox Church. One is reminded of Benedict XV and the Holy See’s support of Patriarch Tikhon and the ROC. After the outbreak of World War II, the Soviet government abided by political considerations, easing pressure on the Orthodox Church but keeping it under control. The Catholic Church was also severely persecuted in the Soviet Union, although with periods of remission. In Ukraine, the Communist regime was resolved to destroy the Catholic Church, primarily the Greek Catholic Church which was outlawed by the so-called Church Council of Lviv (1946). It nullified the Union of Brest and proclaimed accession of the Greek Catholics to the Russian Orthodox Church. The UGCC religious structures and other property were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. All Greek Catholic bishops were arrested. Yet even at the time of severe persecution the Church preserved its hierarchy in Ukraine, although the clergy had to operate underground.
The situation with the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine was almost as bad. True, some temples continued to function, especially in the western territories, people could go and pray there, but the authorities did it so foreign tourists could see it and then say that there was no religious persecution. Meanwhile, no Roman Catholic bishops were left in Ukraine. In the eastern territories, there was only one Catholic priest (in Odesa) acting under the control of security service. The Theological Seminary of Riga could enroll only so many students. And so the Roman Catholic Church was doomed to extinction.
After the proclamation of independent Ukraine, the most important event for the churches was the government’s commitment to respect the freedom of conscience. Over the past eleven years, the Catholic Church, on a par with the other churches and confessions in Ukraine, has had an opportunity to develop normally. At present, UGCC operates 11 church districts across Ukraine, some 3,300 parishes, and 3,000 religious structures, 90 monasteries and convents, 12 educational establishments, 2,200 priests, monks, and nuns. The Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine has 7 dioceses, 830 parishes, 800 houses of God, 66 monasteries and convents, 6 institutions of learning, 460 priests and monks, and 445 nuns.
RELATIONS WITH THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
The revival of religious life in an independent and sovereign Ukraine was accompanied by quite a number of problems, particularly in terms of relationships among the Christian churches, in the first place between UGCC and ROC. After the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was generally restored it correctly claimed restoration of the title to religious structures and other unlawfully alienated property. Transfer of religious structures from one church to the next does not always follow a peaceful course. As it was, both sides registered frequent acts of violence. A joint UGCC-UOC commission was set up to solve such problems in a brotherly Christian spirit. Regrettably, it proved ineffective and has since practically stopped functioning. Perhaps the time for such an initiative has not come as yet; it was blocked by mounting tensions on both sides.
The faithful Greek Catholics stress that they have not taken a single temple away from the Orthodox Church, unless belonging to the UGCC before it was forcefully liquidated in 1946. They also claim that their Orthodox counterparts still occupy a lot of temples that belonged to the Greek Catholic community before World War II, contrary to secular authorities’ enactments. Because of this Greek Catholics have to conduct divine services under the open sky in quite a few places. This is particularly true of Zakarpattia. Here more than 200 Greek Catholic temples are held by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In a number of places similar complaints can be heard from Orthodox believers.
At present, interconfessional conflicts are manifest in the relationships between the Greek Catholic, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchy), and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. As for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy in Western Ukraine, the existing problems mostly concern a dozen or so temples and analysts believe they are not too complicated. In contrast, there are several hundred pressing problems in the relationships between the two uncanonical Orthodox churches.
In some places the believers have achieved understanding and take turns using their houses of God. Thus, in Lviv oblast liturgies are celebrated in over 100 temples by two different religious communities. In some cases the adherents of one Church help their counterparts of a different confession to build a new temple. Both Greek Catholic and Orthodox adherents do so. Regrettably, some problems remain unsolved.
CATHOLIC CHURCH’S STAND
In this complicated religious situation, the Catholic Church tries to adopt a stand conforming to the Christian spirit, abiding by the following principles:
1. In keeping with the instructions of the Second Vatican Council and the Doctrine of the Church, the Catholics show utmost respect for the [Eastern] Orthodox Church which, on a par with the Catholic Church, has preserved the Apostolic Tradition and adheres to the same Sacraments, especially the Eucharist; respects the saints, primarily the Virgin Mary. Therefore, the Catholics rejoice in every apostolic attainment of their Orthodox brothers. They wish the Orthodox Church showed more dynamism, so as to better respond to the needs of modern man that often appears spiritually disoriented. Even in countries whose populace considers itself Orthodox the problem of the so-called new evangelization has become most acute; few adherents are versed in their faith and correctly profess it. The Catholic Church is prepared and willing to make its contribution here, addressing primarily its faithful.
Catholic organizations consider it their duty to assist the Orthodox Church and its institutions in this domain. By way of example, Orthodox students receive numerous scholarships from the Catholic Church, so they can study at the world’s best universities. Also, one should not underestimate economic aid to the Orthodox Church. Over the past several years, the Catholic organization Kirche in Not (The Church in Need) has allocated tens of millions of dollars for Orthodox churches (some $12 million for the Russian Orthodox Church alone). The Holy See encourages a number of Catholic institutions to assist Orthodox churches. The effort is underway even now that a degree of tension between the Orthodox and Catholic Church is registered in certain countries.
2. The Catholic Church does not want to interfere in the internal affairs of the Orthodox Church. It has no right to do so; it maintains official relations with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, regarding it as canonical (as do other Orthodox churches, by the way). Because of church use conflicts, Catholic bishops, particularly Greek Catholic ones, have to maintain contact with representatives of uncanonical churches. This is warranted by the need to solve numerous problems via a dialog between the interested parties.
At the same time, the Catholic Church is perplexed by the rift in the Ukrainian Orthodox world. It can only pray for this scandalous split to close as quickly as possible, and for unity among the brothers and sisters to be restored in accordance with the canons regulating relationships among the Christian churches. The Catholics are convinced that it would be easier to conduct a dialog with a single united Orthodox Church and that it would be more fruitful.
3. The Catholic Church is aware of certain difficulties in its relationships with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. To eliminate them, representatives of both churches have to meet and discuss their problems. Otherwise either side may remain unaware that its stand or decisions are unacceptable to the other side. To start this dialog, hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchy and the Holy See held a meeting in Moscow and decided to form a joint commission. To make its task easier, it was further decided to include in its membership delegates of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church. In March 2000, Cardinal Liubomyr Huzar of UGCC addressed a letter to Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine (UOC), expressing his preparedness to start such cooperation forthwith. Regrettably, the Catholic side received no response from Metropolitan Volodymyr and the commission project remained on paper. The Catholic side, however, remains convinced that the existing hardships between the churches can be overcome only through a dialog.
4. In my opinion, another characteristic should be added which is necessary for an ecumenical dialog. I have in mind healthy realism, correct understanding of the situation, seeing it for what it really is. Thus, in a dialog between the UOC and UGCC both sides must accept each other’s existence as a fact. This is a necessary precondition of the dialog. The Orthodox Church ought to have tried to accept the existence of the Greek Catholic Church, because it has actually existed for a number of centuries and its members have remained true to it, despite all those years of persecution. Realism requires from the Orthodox Church to accept this reality also at the official level. The Catholic Church in Ukraine must reckon with the existence of the Orthodox Church and treat it as a Sister Church.
5. In this context, the Orthodox community ought to have realized that the Catholic Church must guarantee its flock the true shepherd’s care all over Ukraine. In some regions, Catholics constitute the majority, in others the minority. Yet even in places with few Catholics — as in the eastern territories of Ukraine — they have a right to enjoy the shepherd’s care on the part of their priests, monks or nuns. Incidentally, Catholic presence in those regions has a rather long history. The Roman Catholic Church existed in the central and eastern territories of Ukraine long before the Russian revolution, as evidenced by temples surviving the Communist regime, then undergoing complicated restoration work and currently serving their true purpose as houses of God. Such surviving Catholic temples are in Kharkiv, Sumy, Romny, Dniprodzerzhinsk, Kherson, Bila Tserkva, Nikolayiv, Odesa, Kerch, Yalta... Such temples are found elsewhere — for example, in Dnipropetrovsk and Sevastopol, but they have not as yet been returned to the faithful. Too bad.
UGCC history is tragic. Quite a few adherents were exiled from the central and eastern territories of Ukraine. Greek Catholics remained only in Western Ukraine, then under Austria-Hungary. After 1939, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were deported from the western regions and made to settle in various parts of the Soviet Union, including Siberia and Kazakhstan. There are still quite a few villages not far from Donetsk where people know about their Greek Catholic roots, so it would be expedient to set up an exarchate to provide these people with shepherd’s care.
6. The Catholic Church is by no means into proselytism, for this method runs counter to the Gospels; our Church rejects it in both theory and practice. Regrettably, not all Christians use the notion, meaning the same thing. For the Catholics, proselytism indicates any improper method whereby a church tries to increase the number of adherents, offering them material or spiritual benefits. Meaning that it envisages a degree of pressure on human conscience. The bulk of even numerically insignificant Catholic communities is made up of people with Catholic roots. And their number is usually larger than is generally believed. At the same time, there are people having no historical linkage with the Catholic Church, but who wish to join it. I have often discussed the subject with many priests. They claim such people have no contact with the other Church, so they seek a religious community they could join. Catholic priests always try to encourage such people to join the Orthodox Church if it is prevalent in a given locality. People often follow their recommendations, but sometimes they want to join the Catholic Church. If their intent is serious and they have obviously given it quite some thought, the Catholic Church has no right to discourage them. What really matters here is the religious freedom and freedom of conscience, the two pillars supporting coexistence in a democratic society. Both must be respected by one and all.
7. There is a broad range of opportunities of cooperation between the Orthodox and Catholic adherents. The Catholic Church is convinced that this cooperation could start now, that there is no need to wait for all problems to be solved. In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church came out with its concept of the social doctrine. It has a lot in common with that of the Catholic Church. The social sphere could be a venue of cooperation between both churches and serve the benefit of the whole society, especially those badly in need of help.
8. Personal communications with Orthodox bishops seem very important. During my trips across Ukraine, every time I pay an official visit to an administrative region [oblast], I request an audience with the local archpriest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Lord be praised, I have succeeded in arranging such meetings in many cities, including Kyiv, Lutsk, Vinnytsia, Kherson, Simferopol, Zaporizhzhia, etc. On every such occasion I would tell about the efforts of the Holy See with regard to Ukraine and that particular locality.
Before making an important decision relating to the Roman and Greek Catholic Churches, I officially notify Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine (UOC). It is an act of respect for him personally and for the esteemed Orthodox Church.
9. During my trips in Ukraine I could see that people of different confessions had once effectively coexisted in this country. In many cities I found Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant temples and synagogues. These structures are graphic evidence of religious tolerance that has long existed in Ukraine. Moreover, they point to a respectful religious coexistence, even cooperation. Let me cite only two examples. In the historic town of Ostroh, when it was in its cultural prime, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the populace included Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant believers, Jews, and Muslim Tatars. They all had their temples. Some have survived the ravages of time, among them a Catholic church. In Dniprodzerzhinsk, in the east of Ukraine, a Polish Catholic engineer first built a Catholic cathedral in the 19th century and then decided to design and erect an Orthodox temple. The city also had a Lutheran temple and several synagogues. Are these two examples not sufficient evidence of the historical ecumenical openness of the Ukrainian tradition that has to be rediscovered and assessed anew?
In conclusion, I would like to point out that I remain optimistic about Catholic-Orthodox church relationships. An ecumenical dialog is demanded by the times, especially in Ukraine with its large Orthodox and Catholic communities. A dialog has commenced at the practical, local level, between adherents, often between clergymen of both churches. I wish this dialogue grew in scope, reaching the hierarchical level. There is no denying that most people in Ukraine would want rapprochement among the Christians, primarily those representing the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. What better evidence than the warm welcome accorded the Holy Father by most Ukrainians during his visit!
