www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Clergy affiliations during the period of religious strife

I agree with Fr. Elias and our Administrator regarding the inappropriateness of the former thread, as related to the personal situations of individual clergy persons. I did want to address however, the phenomenon of clergy-affiliations in former communist nations, when the choices of jurisdiction were not so simple as they are for us in the Western world. Just so that those who may not be familiar with the obstacles faced by our priests in these places during those most difficult years, I want to offer some reflections on what it meant to have a "vocation" to be an Eastern Rite priest and why certain decisions were made and later rectified when the opportunity for free choice was restored. The struggle went far beyond theolgoumenons or differences in doctrine and/or administrative models. It was far closer to "life and death" and those pursuing the priesthood were not faced with an easy decision - no matter how one views it.

This is just a short comment on our 20th. century clergy in Ukraine and other former Soviet countries. It is true that a large number of clergy serving in Greek Catholic parishes in these places today were ordained as Russian Orthodox priests. The main factor contributing to this statistic is that Orthodox seminaries and eparchies were the only recourse one could take to become an Eastern Rite priest during those long decades of persecution. If one felt a vocation and wanted to be ordained in the ritual tradition of their ancestors, then the only avenue to pursue was the Orthodox path.

After freedom came to Ukraine and the other former Soviet-block nations, many Orthodox clergy quickly transferred to the Greek Catholic Church, as did a majority of the parishes they served. Once again, a similar phenomenon can be seen among the clergy of both the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - in Ukraine. When the opportunity arose to give allegiance to a free and self-determined Ukrainian Church, many priests who wished to remain on the Orthodox but not the Russian side, joined one of the newly-legalized Ukrainian Orthodox jurisdictions.

So, it is clear to see that during times when the church was suppressed - both Greek Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox, those with sincere vocations, who did not, for whatever reason, feel that they could work in the "underground" or "catacomb" church, were left with a singular choice only - to be ordained in the Russian Orthodox Church or one of its satellite jurisdictions. The overwhelming exodus from these churches to the re-legalized Catholic or Orthodox "free" jurisdictions, speaks for itself, as to how these former Russian clergy really saw themselves and the people they served.

Alex is correct: doctrinal issues such as purgatory, the filioque or papal ministry were really non-issues for those faced with more life-threatening decisions: "To be a priest or not to be a priest" - that was the question for many of these clergy during the decades of religious strife in their homelands.

We are very fortunate here, in the "free-world" to be able to worry about the nuances of theology and its inter-jurisdictional implications, rather than about where our next meal will come from or if we will have a rectory to live in or a parish to serve - much less, if we will have our freedom at all, or be relegated to labor camps or worse. Praise God for the liberties that we enjoy. May we always keep things in perspective, when it comes to inter-religious debate and not forget that ultimately, it is the Gospels that must direct our lives - for both clergy and laity.

Fr. Joe

Bless me a sinner, Father Joseph!

Bravo! Bravo!

When my uncle visited us while he was still an Orthodox priest, he came to my parents' house for dinner.

One aunt, staunchly ROMAN Catholic, began to argue with him about why he wasn't with the Underground Eastern Catholic Church and how he could serve in the Orthodox Church etc.

His answer? "Madame, our ancestors didn't build those great Churches and Cathedrals so they could stand there empty!"

When others began to attack the Patriarch of Moscow as a "KGB Agent" (it was the pontificate of the Moscow Patriarch before the current one), the Reverend Uncle replied:

"What nonsense are you saying? The man is a Doctor of Church Music. He's doing his best to do what he can. I served the Litury with him several times."

When some asked him about the Pope, he replied:

"I don't publicly teach that the Pope is the Head of the Church and I don't publicly teach that he isn't. All I know is that I have to look out for my own head . . ."

He then added, "You know, beloved, I listened to one of our Greek Catholic programs on the radio the other day - from Rome, I think it was. The priest was talking about the Procession of the Holy Spirit."

He then abruptly added: "Are you people crazy or something? I myself did a doctorate on the Procession of the Holy Spirit in Moscow (under communism)! You people are living in freedom! Why don't you talk, instead, about the ordeal of Believers behind the Iron Curtain! Why don't you talk about what we CANNOT talk about!"

He had quite a deep singing voice that was quite forceful when he was a bit angry.

I wished I had a voice like that . . .

Alex

[ 08-21-2002: Message edited by: Orthodox Catholic ]