His Beatitude Archbishop Major Joseph cardinal Slipyj,
primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church
Today is Cardinal Slipyj’s 81st birthday.
He has come to Melbourne to lead Ukrainians from all over the world, both hierarchy and clergy as well as faithful, in their participation in the.40th Eucharistic Congress.
The Cardinal is the only surviving member of the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine, the rest of whom were liquidated by the Soviet regime.
He survived 18 years of Russian slave labor camps in Siberia and was released by the then Soviet premier Kruschev following the personal intervention of Pope John XXIII.
In the ten years since his release the Cardinal has revitalized the Ukrainian Church with his ceaseless efforts on behalf of its unity and integrity.
His personal zeal has resulted in the establishment of a thriving centre for Ukrainian Catholics throughout the world in the eternal city.
Among his more notable achievements since his release in 1963 at the age of 71, are:
I. the establishment of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome.
II. the building of the beatiful church of St. Sophia, a
replica of the historic St. Sophia in Ukraine’s capital city, Keiv.
III. the restoration of the historical seat of the Ukrainian church in Rome, the church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus.
IV. he has convened five Archiepischopal Synods, asserting the autonomous status of the Ukrainian Church and incurring the displeasure of high ranking members of the Vatican curia.
Above all, the Cardinal has renewed the historic quest for a Ukrainian Catholic Patriarchate, a self-governing form necessary for the continued existence of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
The idea of the Ukrainian Patriarchate has the backing of all Ukrainian catholics and the demand for its creation is not a demand for new privileges, but rather a demand for the fulfilment of the ancient rights of our Church.
In pursuit of these rights. Cardinal Slipyj has to overcome strong opposition from certain members of the Roman curia, who are willing to sacrifice this church for the sake of political expediency in their search of a Rome-Moscow alliance.
His Beatitude strongly criticized the Vatican’s attitude towards the Ukrainian Church, which is now regarded as a niusance in the political bargaining with Moscow, at the World Synod of Bishops in 1971.
Speaking out for the first time since his release, in the presense of all the catholic bishops of the world and the Holy Father Pope Paul VI, he stated that:
“Ukrainian Catholics have sacrificed mountains of bodies and rivers of blood for their faith and their fidelity to the Holy See and even now they suffer terrible persecution, but what is worse, they are defended by noone…”
“now, as a result of diplomatic negotiations, they, who as martyrs and confessors suffered so may things, are put aside like fastidious witnesses of past evils.”
“An intercession was made by the Vatican on behalf of Roman Catholics, but six million faithful Ukrainians who have suffered religious persecution have been ignored!
In these essentially unherioic times, Joseph Cardinal Slipyj, a living Confessor of the Faith, is the embodiement of the highest ideals of Christianity.
His presence will leave an indelible impression on the Congress.
