Translated by Yarka Komorowsky
During the Ukrainian Days in Rome which marked the celebrations of the Holy Year 1975, the Society for the Patriarchate in the Ukrainian Catholic Church sent the letter reprinted below to the various ambassadors acredited by the Holy See. Todate, four replies have been received. The answers of the various ambassadors are most interesting, inasmuch as they contain their personal concern for the plight of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and her faithful, as presented in the letter, but at the same time, they state, that their respective Your Excellency:
We, the representatives of the Ukrainian Catholic laity in the United States gathered in Rome for the festivities of the Holy Year 1975, turn to Your Excellency with a plea concerning the plight of the Ukrainian Catholic faithful within the borders of the USSR.
The month of April 1975 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the official liquidation of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine by the Soviet government. Thirty years ago, our entire hierarchy, hundreds of priests, and thousands of faithful were arrested, exiled, or put to death. According to Soviet government, the Ukrainian Catholic Church ceased to exist, and its faithful «embraced» Orthodoxy.
Yet official government proclamations do not necessarily spell the end of a Church. The Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine continues to exist in the underground and to provide spiritual care for its faithful under most adverse circumstances. According to priests and three bishops active in Western Ukraine alone, performing their sacerdotal functions under great stress arid duress and under the threat of exile, incarceration, or even loss of life. Eastern Catholicism is a broad national movement in Ukraine and its persecution constitutes not only religious repression but also an infringement on the national rights.
Your Excellency, the persecution of the Ukrainian Catholic faithful in the USSR is contrary to article 124 of the Soviet Constitution and article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and yet, it continues unabated. A closer examination of the matter from the juridical point of view reveals the tragic absurdity of the Ukrainian condition in the USSR. To quote A. Krasnow (Levitin), a noted Russian dissident:
«If commemorating the Pope during Divine Liturgy and the recognition of him as the Head of the Church is a crime, then it is incomprehensible why Latin Rite governments presently favor a political course which does not enable them to speak out for the Ukrainian Catholic Church. It is apparent, that the detente is often rejected by various people in government service, but the leaders of the Western World still pursue it with the same false hopes that have characterized it since its inception. We refrain from printing the replies of the various ambassadors in order not to embarass them with their governments.
Catholics are not persecuted. An equally ridiculous situation, however, has its tragic impact on thousands of human souls, beaten and broken by the violation of their consciences and by the aggravation of antagonism between the Ukrainian and the Russian peoples.» (Quoted from LOOKING EAST, Revue of the Byzantine Center, Fatima, Portugal, Vol. 9, No. 16, 52-54)
It is for this reason, Your Excellency, that we turn to you. Please use the power of your office to ease the burden of suffering of those who believe in Christ. This can be accomplished if those persecuted are made aware that their suffering does not go unnoticed by the Holy See. A Papal encyclical to this effect, issued on the occasion of the Holy Year, would manifest to them that, as the Pontiff himself recently stated in his Apostolic Exhortation, no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord. (Gaudete in Domino). We urge Your Excellency to use your power on behalf of those persecuted and on behalf of Justice.
The existence of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the catacombs, Your Excellency, demonstrates her ability to survive and, despite adversity and impediments, to fulfill her historic mission. Our Church has withstood thirty years of fierce persecution and her sources of hope and vitality are not exhausted. But the plight of the people of God in Ukraine would be greatly eased if their Church, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, were officially recognized. Thus we ask Your Excellency to urge the appropriate authorities of the Holy See and of your own government to work toward this end. Such an act on your part would constitute a great service to humanitarianism.
We await Your Excellency’s reply and express our gratitude for Your support in this matter.
Respectfully yours,
Myroslav Nawrockyj, M. D. President
Leonid Rudnytzky, Ph. D. Secretary
