by Eva Piddubcheshen
The thesis of Mrs. Piddubchechen`s 12-page pamphlet is that Ніs Beatitude Joseph Cardinal Slipyj has become, in 1973, “Patriarch by acclamation” of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The author argues that Cardinal Slipyj has attained his position at the head of the Ukrainian Church, not through any edict of the Roman Curia, but through the recognition accorded him by the Ukrainian laity and Church hierarchy. Such an evolution is historically valid, she writes, since the Vatican ruling circles have traditionally been jealous of their powers; therefore, Patriarchates historically were not granted by the Vatican but sprung from below.
At the beginning of the pamphlet Mrs. Piddubcheshen presents a brief account of Cardinal Slipyj’s life and accomplishments for the Ukrainian Church: his pre-war role as educator and proponent of Christian unity, his secret consecration as bishop in 1939, his succession to the leadership of the Ukrainian Catholic Church after the death of Metropolitan Sheptytsky in 1944, his imprisonment in Soviet concentration camps from 1945 until his release, secured through the intercession of Pope John XXIII, and arrival in the Vatican in February 1963.
Further on, Mrs. Piddubcheshen recounts how Cardinal Slipyj’s activities in Rome spearheaded the renaissance of the Ukrainian Church both internally and on the world forum.
The Ukrainian revival did not, however, lead to the complete autonomy of this church. While Rome recognized His Beatitude as Archbishop Major of the Ukrainian Hierarchy, and in 1964, acknowledged that “the patriarchal office in the Eastern Churches is a traditional form of government” it was not about to appoint Cardinal Slipyj as Patriarch because such a step would grate Soviet nerves and would run counter to the Vatican’s policy of tacit accommodation with U.S.S.R.
Cardinal Slipyj suffered Vatican neglect in silence until October, 1971 at the World Synod of Bishops he delivered an impassioned plea for recognition of Ukrainian Catholics who “… have sacrificed rivers of blood and mountains of bodies because of their fidelity to the Apostolic See…” but now “…because of diplomatic negotiations… are put aside like inconvenient witnesses of past evils.”
Mrs. Piddubcheshen quotes a non-Ukrainian church scholar in support of Cardinal Slipyj’s and his church’s right for self-assertion vis-a-vis the Vatican. Last year, in a discussion at Fordham University in New York, Father William A. de Vries, S.J. said, “The fact must be stressed that patriarchates grew from below and were not founded by any decree from above… It is very important for Ukrainians to recognize that custom creates the right. Ukrainians must create a custom and the custom will create their right.”
Mrs. Piddubcheshen’s contention is that for the Ukrainian church the custom has already created the right. The Ukrainian hierarchy and laity do already recognize Cardinal Slipyj as their Patriarch as was demonstrated during His Beatitude’s triumphal journey through Ukrainian parishes of United States and Canada in the spring of 1973. Throngs of Ukrainian faithful turned out to greet Cardinal Slipyj with slogans such as “Welcome Patriarch” and “Hail to our Patriarch”. The hierarchy joined in this recognition by the laity: Bishop Joseph Gabro of Chicago addressed the visiting Primate: “Your Beatitude, our Patriarch”. Therefore, Mrs. Piddubcheshen concludes, “In June of 1973, he (Cardinal Slipyj) returns to the Vatican as PATRIARCH JOSEPH I by acclamation !”
