From the editors:
In recent times many new events have come to pass in the Ukrainian Catholic Church which necessitate our utmost attention. His Beatitude Josyf Cardinal Slipyj, moved by the continuous pleas of his people and cognizant of the fact that no Eastern Catholic Patriarchate was established by the Holy See, officially used the title patriarch in signing the Easter Pastoral Letter of 1975. Confronted by this fait accompli, the Vatican reacted swiftly. In a letter to His Beatitude dated May 24, 1975, Pope Paul reiterated his reasons for denying the Ukrainian Catholics a patriarchate as set forth in his letter of July 7, 1971.Copies of this letter were sent to all the Ukrainian Catholic bishops in the diaspora with an a companying note soliciting their reaction to the document.
The Ukrainians, however, remained undaunted in face of the new adversity. More than four thousand Ukrainian pilgrims came to Rome for the «Ukrainian Days» of the Holy Year 1975, to pray and to demonstrate their allegiance to their Patriarch.
THE EVENTS IN ROME AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE
It was clear from the series of events which the Ukrainian pilgrims attended that they were in Rome at the tomb of the Apostles to bear witness to the communion of the Ukrainian Catholic Church with the Vicar of Christ, that they, as representatives of their Particular (Pomisna) Church, earnestly desired to «consolidate» this unity. However, the Ukrainians were also in Rome to manifest to the world that their Eastern Catholic Church, the largest Eastern Church in union with Rome, has millennium-old rights for which Ukrainian Catholics are determined to win respect and recognition.
One of these is the right to a patriarchal status.
On Saturday, July 12, 1975, on the Feast Day of SS Peter and Paul according to the Julian Calendar, thousands of Ukrainian Catholics from all parts of the world thronged into St. Peter Basilica for a Divine Liturgy celebrated by Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, Primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Concelebrating with him at the Papal altar were fourteen bishops from Ukrainian dioceses scattered throughout the world and 124 priests.
During this impressive Liturgy His Beatitude Josyf I was commemorated as Patriarch of Kyiv-Halych and the entire Rus’-Ukraine.
Sunday evening, July 13, a concert was held in honor of His Beatitude Josyf at the Papal audience hall in the Vatican. During the evening, Bishop Ivan Prashko of Australia, speaking for Ukrainian Catholic hierarchy, pledged unwavering allegiance to the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and Prof. Petro Zeleny of Belgium, President of the Ukrainian Patriarchal World Federation, did the same on behalf of the Ukrainian Catholic laity. Twelve Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church attended this concert.
These and other events in Rome made it quite clear to the Ukrainian Catholic pilgrims that they had a de facto patriarchate. On one occasion, His Beatitude himself pointed out, that he had informed the Holy Father that the Ukrainian Catholic Church is now a Patriarchal Church and that the Vatican must learn to live with this reality.
WHAT MUST BE DONE?
The question remains, what can we, the Ukrainian Catholic faithful, do to implement more fully the existing condition?
First of all, we must all be cognizant of the fact that we have been granted the unique opportunity to achieve that which has eluded the Ukrainian people for almost four hundred years.
We are blessed by having a spiritual leader who has no equal, whose personal integrity is unassailable, whose inner strength and purity is such that he cannot be broken nor bought, neither for rubles nor for dollars.
We must manifest our firm resolve to stand by him and to support him in his quest to provide unity, and dignity to our persecuted Church.
We must make it unequivocally clear that we do not approve of the curial manipulation of our Church and that we are resolved to oppose the Vatican Ostpolitik which is sacrificing our Church for the sake of an unrealistic and immoral collaboration with forces of atheistic communism.
We must strive to make our bishops and our priests aware of our concern for the plight of our Church. We must urge them to align themselves without reservations with His Beatitude; to commemorate him as Patriarch during the Liturgy, and to recognize him as Primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Let us all remember the following facts:
- Vatican has never created an Eastern Patriarchate; as a rule, it simply acknowledged their existence ex post facto.
- The Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern Churches in union with the Holy Apostolic See. In fact, the Ukrainian Catholic Church is larger than all the other Eastern Catholic Churches combined; and yet it is the only one which does not enjoy patriarchal status recognized by the Vatican.
- The Union of Brest (1596) assured the Ukrainian Catholic Church her right to be a Particular (Particularis-Pomisna) Church in union with the Holy See. This right has since been reaffirmed many times by various Papal decrees including the Decree on Eastern Churches of Vatican II. The best way to preserve this right is to establish a patriarchate-an ancient form of church government traditional in the East.
- The Ukrainian Catholic bishops have accepted a Patriarchal Constitution for the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
- His Beatitude Josyf now uses the title Patriarch in signing the official documents issued by his office. Moreover, he has publicly stated that the Ukrainian Catholic Church is a Patriarchal Church.
Fellow Ukrainian Catholics:
Let us consider all these facts and let us act. We are morally bound to respond to the historical challenge facing all of us. We must strive to preserve our spiritual identity; we must perpetuate the rich Ukrainian traditions, so cherished by or forefathers, and we must defend our Church against the forces which are bent on destroying her. Let us all come alive and let us all work together to ensure the unity and the survival of our Patriarchal Church.
