Desirous to confirm what We told you personally, Venerable Brother, during the Audience of May 5th last. We have decided to write to you, with a paternal and solicitous heart, mindful of the serious office entrusted to Our humble person to feed the flock of Christ and to preside over the «universal community of charity» (cfr. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Romans).
We are well aware of your remarkable merits, gained with admirable patience and courageous suffering, for the cause of Christ. We know also the profound respect in which the brethren in the faith hold you. We ourselves, on the other hand, have wished to add Our satisfaction and appreciation of these your eminent qualities of mind and faith, by elevating you to the dignity of a Cardinal of Holy Mother the Church. We wish to assure you, most beloved Brother, of Our continuous esteem for your venerable person; and it is this esteem which encourages Us to express to you, with an open heart, Our sentiments regarding a question which has been brought to Our attention, as Vicar of the one and supreme Pastor of the Universal Church, who is Christ Jesus Our Lord.
We have been informed that in certain recent publications and official documents of the Catholic Ukrainian Church the title of Patriarch has been given to you. This has not only pained Our heart very deeply, but has also provoked much confusion and division among the Bishops and the faithful of the bizantine-ukrainian rite; these have approached this Apostolic See seeking opportune explanation and urgent directives.
You know well the mind of the Holy See with regard to the proposal of erecting a Catholic Ukrainian Patriarchate; this mind has been communicated to you on various occasions by Our competent Offices since 1963. We Ourselves have wished to inform you of Our decision in a Letter, dated July 7th 1971: after having recalled the existing canonical discipline, We informed you that «after mature consideration, before the Lord, of the opinions expressed by the Cardinals, even though We were most inclined to accede to your request, nonetheless We came once again with difficulty to the conclusion that it is not possible to proceed, at least for the present moment, with the establishment of an Ukrainian Patriarchate». This Our decision has since been repeatedly confirmed to you through the competent Dicasteries of the Holy See (e.g. by the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church in letters n. 5755/72 of September 29th 1972 and n. 2615/74 of April 30th 1974; and by the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches in two letters n. 368/69, dated November 23rd and December 9th 1974).
On receiving recently the above-mentioned information, We have wished to study the question again, obviously in the general context of the good of the Universal Church and in the interest of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. We found the juridical, historical, spiritual and pastoral considerations, as well as the circumstances mentioned in Our Letter of July 1971, still fully valid. We, therefore, do not see — unfortunately — how the decision taken then may be changed: We repeat, at least for the present moment. We hasten to assure that this renewed decision on Our part is completely devoid of any political considerations; on the contrary, it is inspired by eminently religious and pastoral motives, profoundly conscious as We are of Our grave responsibility in the service of the cause of the Gospel, as administrators of the mysteries of God, to Whom one day We must render an account of Our actions.
We, therefore, request you, Venerable Brother, not to put this Apostolic See before a fact which, lacking the necessary approval either of an Ecumenical Council or of Our authority (cf. even the Decree of the Second Vatican Council, «Orientalium Ecclesiarum»), risks to produce sad and serious wounds in the already too lacerated Mystical Body of Christ, provoking in this manner an attack against that unity of the Church for which Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed just before going to His most painful passion and death. This would be all the more depreciable, as it would occur precisely in this Jubilee Year devoted to renewal and to reconciliation with God and with one’s brethren.
We have spoken to you with an open heart, Venerable Brother, hoping sincerely that you will do your utmost that the Catholic Ukrainian faithful remain always united among themselves and with the See of Peter and not proceed to decide, on their own, questions of ecclesiastical law reserved to the same Holy See.
While confirming Our particular benevolence towards your person, always so dear to Us, We impart to you Our Apostolic Blessing, propitiatory of heavenly favours.
Given at St. Peter’s in Rome,
on May 24th 1975,
in the twelfth year of Our pontificate.
PAULUS PP. VI
