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What happens after the Bishop of Rome's visit to Ukraine?

Prior to John Paul's II visit to Ukraine, the mass media had a lot of different publications, which were dedicated to this event. The prognosis about the various events varied. Nevertheless, unanimously according to the thought of those present and those who observed, even the most positive opinions had simply been superseded. The Ukrainian Christian community demonstrated its numbers, its youth, its dynamic style, its seriousness and its prayerful spirit. Today it is important to think about the fruits of this visit. We need to reflect upon the people, and the church's attitude towards ecumenism amongst the Christians of this country which has a population of 50 million.

While the organizers are always careful of how they plan the Pope's visit to other countries, and are especially sensitive towards various traditions, definite doubts existed whether this same respect would be given to Ukrainian traditions. Different people were asking, to whom is the Pope of Rome coming? To the Polish - faithful of the Latin Church; to the Orthodox Ukrainians - belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate; to the Ukrainian Government; or to the Greek Catholics, or to others. It is into such an atmosphere that John Paul II arrived. The community of the country is largely composed of the orthodox and the non-churched. I am not saying that they are "Godless", because the Christian seed is deeply rooted amongst our people. Nonetheless they require a lot of sun and water. The Pope came to visit the largest Orthodox Church in communion with Rome (the Catholics of the Byzantine Rite) and also to the Roman Catholic minority, a people mainly Ukrainian, but with a Polish clergy and episcopate. He also came to encourage the resolution of the conflicts that exist between the Ukrainian churches.

In fulfilling this mission the Pope met with the heads of most of the religious communities in Ukraine, with the exception of one - the Ukrainian Metropolitan of the Moscow Patriarchate - Volodomyr Sabodan. He exemplified that ecumenism has a place when it is not only concentrated in the Church, but also in God in the Holy Trinity. The ecumenical meeting and the speeches in Kiev of the Orthodox (schismatics in the eyes of the Moscow Patriarchate, but a reality in Ukraine) - is a worthy example to follow. After this event, we discover a new sympathy on the side of the various Orthodox to the Greek Catholics and to the Roman Catholics. Comparatively speaking, the past reality and the present, which was spoken about in alarming terms, brought some Orthodox to think about this, and it will not be without consequences for the spiritual life of these people. Let us pray that they will remain in their churches and recognize the true signs and the value of Christianity, so that they will not be tempted by other lofty ideals, even the Catholic ones. Only this kind of scenario can be of value for ecumenism. From another perspective it is quite clear that Catholics must, on all levels, make certain that their words of peace and love be sincere and not a means of proselytism.

John Paul's II letter to the Ukrainian church, which finds itself in the Moscow Patriarchate, and under her jurisdiction, is full of truth and respect. The theme of this letter was the word of God's Love that brings us perfection and gives birth to our genuine love for God. This loving dialogue demonstrates the model of morals, of religion, of eschatology and precious values of peace and understanding. Through this love we become the partakers of one pilgrim church, which is first of all God's chosen people in search for perfection - for the Absolute, who is God. This church which is a mystery is an assembly of pilgrims called to show God's love to all people through the fulfillment of the Gospel. This very same church was present in Ukraine along with John Paul II. The Bishop of Rome gave to one believing people - Orthodox and Greek Catholics - their God-given dignity of the indivisible church, disregarding the obsolete hierarches; this was sensed by the Christian people of Ukraine and will be remembered for a long time.

It needs to be said with gratitude to the Pope that he made the faithful aware that through the power of the Mysteries of Initiation, (Sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and Holy Eucharist) they do not need a special mandate from the hierarchy to initiate a healthy evangelization. This means that sooner or later the hierarchy, who will have to rethink their witness and be anointed anew by the Holy Spirit, will feel the consequences of this. This will be a new direction, somewhat different from the anthropocentric ecumenism, which gives more attention to worldly values, than to truth and love.

An important step towards unity of the churches established by St. Vladimir was the beatification of the Christian martyrs who belong to the Greek Catholic Church, both Russian and Ukrainian, amongst them, professors Andrew Yischak, Nicholas Konrad and the Archpriest Leonid Fiodorov. These saints now in heaven are creating one community of Kievian-Rus together with their brothers and sisters of the Russian Orthodox Church. They all died under the same atheistic regime, for the one Christ of the Gospels! They all stand in the presence of the Holy Trinity and before the Mother of God.

These beatifications will also be an encouragement to research examples for the contemporary ordinary life among present anonymous people in the Pleiad of Saints from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Every social group must have road signs that reflect life experiences similar to them on their journey to eternal life, to divinization.

The Pope of Rome's visit clarified yet other particular questions regarding basically the Greek Catholic Church, whose situation is not simple for two reasons. First, after much persecutions she is searching for her own individuality, as an independent community, attempting to make her identity felt; secondly, Rome's centralization, whose aim is dual communion among the Greek Catholics and Orthodox is always present and does not give enough space for self-governing. This practice was a reality for one century after the famous Brest accord in 1596.

One problematic question presents a misunderstanding for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: who is ultimately the head of this Church, the Pope or Major Archbishop named Patriarch. Liturgical celebrations together with Pope John Paul II shows that one head of this church is Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), because he presided at the Byzantine Liturgies in the presence of the Bishop of Rome, being in this case in full communion with him. This question is a matter of principle, regarding ecumenism, because the Liturgy should reflect the organization of Church. In this event, the Liturgy showed the patriarchal institution, which is a specifically eastern entity and cannot be just the result of consequences of a privilege given by the Roman Church, as was recently Greek Melkite Patriarchate, Gregory II Lacham said.

In other words, we must believe even more in the authority of the Particular Catholic Churches, in order that they can autonomously decide their matters, and renew the Communion with their twin blood brothers. We need to hope that Rome will not perceive the decision made by the Particular Churches as imperfect within the existing communion, but see that this difficult decision blessed by the Lord is ultimately a return to peace and harmony in their own house. In this case it is important that the successor of St. Peter helps the reinforcement of the particular local communion to accomplish his responsibilities to help the churches be faithful to their own tradition.

Among the great surprises of this visit we "came in touch" with heaven. In those days we once again came across an unfamiliar tranquillity, noble dignity, ideals of life, and we remembered that we are naturally called to our created image and likeness of God. The understanding was renewed that all of life's problems no matter how alarming, cannot take away the love of God which is a gift to individuals and our vocation to our divine and human dignity.

The youth came across someone with whom they were able to dialogue with and who was a witness without fault; who could speak together about God, about the gift of life, about the Christian ideals and about purity. Some spectators questioned themselves about the deeper meaning of life and love. Thus a seed that was sown in the society, where idols of Marxist-Communism still had not been changed by the God of Love in the hearts of many people. Their hearts are still imbued with a wild capitalism as an epidemic disease making their lives fruitless.

In this context, it is good to note that in a country where words are so abused and often do not hold any value, every word that John Paul II spoke was impregnated with meaning and substance. The Pope of Rome spoke words that Ukrainians had not been heard for a long time. This was not an accumulation of a meaningless and manipulative language to which they are accustomed, but a deep and sincere expression of brotherly communication. We have to remind ourselves that European governments do not see Ukraine on par as a country and are building a new Berlin Wall on Ukrainian borders. For example, Poland, Bulgaria, Czechia, Slovakia, and Romania forced a new system of visa that previously did not exist. This is the scenario in the church world where we can hear the bitter sound of bells from the Russian horizons. The bell ringer who imagines he is mandated to authorize or negate the Pope to visit the neighborly host directs this bell. The Patriarch of the West spoke the Ukrainian language fluently and with a great respect. This is an additional encouragement to return to their own church and national identity after many years of cultural, religious and political oppression.

Criticisms throughout the whole world were subdued by the Good News of Christianity during the Papal visit. However, truth remains truth. No authentic journalist will write that Greek Catholics persecute Orthodox in Ukraine today. It is necessary to say this because these types of discussions are held at important international meetings, which unfortunately did not bring positive results. Beside the lack of truth at these international meetings, it happens that some participants try to deny the reality of communities that existed for centuries. It is important to understand that the descendants are not responsible for the decisions made previously by their ancestors. Instead they have inversely proved with their martyrdom, confession of faith and pouring out of blood for Jesus Christ, that they participated in ecumenism of blood. Their pastoral vitality, their social reflection, young catechists and serious theological research remain an example of an alive christian community open to various dialogues carrying the spirit of self-respect as subjects and not objects.

The visit of John Paul II to Ukraine, on one hand showed the Pope's greatness as a servant for the unity of Christians, and on the other hand the necessity of canonical and ecclesiological frame in which he acts as the First among the Bishops, having returned to his original simplicity of being. Only under these circumstances all those (who are baptized in His name and are in union with the Holy Trinity) who want to fulfill Christ's call, "That All May Be One", will now be able to see, read and understand the way to unity.

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Michael Dymyd, Mitrat Archpriest of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Doctor in Eastern Canon Law, Professor of Theology, Co-founder and first rector of the renewed Lviv Theological Academy, Founder of Radio-Resurrection in Ukraine, Founder Agency of Religious Information, Founder of and Director of the Institute of Canon Law of the Lviv Theological Academy and Head of the Organization Committee Patriarchal Sobor of the Greek Catholic Church and President Ukrainian Theological Scientific Society.

E-mail: dymyd@ucu.edu.ua