Originally posted by Ung-Certez:
byzanTN,
Another good book would be The History of the Church in Carpathian Rus' by Rev. Athanasius Pekar. It was published (English translation) by Columbia University (NY) and should be available at most college or university library. It is an excellent reference book and also explains how the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Carpatho-Rusyn (Ruthenian) Greek Catholic Church differ historically and politcally.
U-C
That's a neat trick
. Can I insert a message between two others which were posted 3 - 4 days ago ??
But since you decided to insert it (and that is a neat trick to be sure), perhaps I should add this...... :p
The differing historical and political issues of the various churches, including the Ukrainian Greek Catholic's Eparchy of Mukachevo in the Carpathian mountains is well covered in the 'History of Ukraine' by Orest Subtelny, and includes not only the Greek Catholics, but the Orthodox, Protestants, Latin rite, and other faiths.
However, as C-U suggested and if you are interested in church history of the Ukrainians in the Carpathian mountains, it may be a very good idea to include specific publications by our very own Catholic Church's clergy which relate to the Greek Catholics in them hills.
One of my favorites authors would be Monsignor Alexander Baran of Canada's Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who had published several articles on the topic of the Carpatho-Ukrainian (Ruthenian) Greek Catholics.
Monsignor Baran was born in a suburb of Uzhorod in what was the interwar Transcarpathia area of Czechoslovakia. On his mothers side he came from a long line of Ruthenian/Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests, and his father was a secretary to the last three Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia. He attended primary and secondary school in Uzhorod, and University in Prague and Rome where he earned two (x2) doctor degrees. Clearly his history academic credentials and unique political life experiences in interwar Czechoslovakia, Rome, Western Europe, then in Canada make him an excellent authority on the Greek Catholics of Transcarpathia.
Monsignor Baran does not seek to highlight what devides the the Ruthenians historically and politically, but what unites them and makes them a strong peoples. He witnessed the Latinization / Slovakization of the Greek Catholic church in INTERWAR Czechoslovakia's Transcarpathia region and understood that this was a failed 'American model' (conception in the USA) for the preservation of the millennium old Christian rite and culture of the Ruthenian / Ukrainians.
Like the VAST MAJORITY of the Carpathian Ruthenians/Ukrainians of the late 1930's he fully embraced the idea of establishing a Carpatho-Ukrainian nation and eventually uniting with Galicians and other Ruthenians / Ukrainians to form a stronger church able to withstand the pressures of Latinization / Assimmilation and forced Slovak Assimmilation.
Monsignor Baran was forced to flee the communists and eventually emigrated to Canada where he freely joined the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church which prior to, and immediately after the turn of the century was known as the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. In fact, Archbishop Major Sheptytsky of Lviv in all of his correspondense witht the Canadian Catholic hierarchs refers to ALL his 'flock' as Ruthenians.
Monsignor Baran wrote many papers on the historical and political similarities and need for mutual cooperation and support of the Mukachevo Eparchy of the Ruthenian Greek Catholics with the rest of the Ruthenians / Ukrainians. His scholarly works highlight the need for a unified Ukrainian (old word Ruthenian) patriarchate and he provides the political and historical justification for this, including the Mukachevo Eparchy. Some of his published works include:
(1) The Marmarosh Eparchy and it's Union (1962)
(2) The Kyivan Metropolitan and the Eparchy of Mukachiv (Latin), 1960
(3) Correspondence regarding Joseph Voloshynovskyj, Bishop of Mukachevo in 1667 - (in Latin), 1954 (available online)
(4) The Mukachevo, Fagaras and Svidnytsky Eparchies in Vienna in 1773 (in Ukrainian, 1961)
(5) Unedited Documents on the confirmation of Parthenius Petrovych, Bishop of Mukachevo (in Latin), 1961
(6) Project of a Ukrainian Patriarchate under Gregory XVI (in Italian), 1961
(7) The Motivation of Volodymyr's acceptance of Christianity.
Clearly Monsignor Baran now of Canada's UGCC was sounding the alarm bells here in North America over two full generation about need for integration of the Ukrainian / Ruthenian Greek Catholics, both in the 'old world' and 'new', including a common Patriarchate.
Orest Subtelny in his book 'History of Ukraine' (which I mentioned earlier) mentions the tragic fate of the 300,000 Greek Catholic and Orthodox Carpatho-Ukrainians / Ruthenians who found themselves in post WW2 Czechoslovakia and who have been nearly completely assimmilated into the Slovak Latin rite church and culture.
Perhaps it is time to concentrate on the political and historical similarities, and not trivial differences - for the sake of what is left of the Carpatho-Ruthenian millennium old Byzantine Christian faith - both here in the USA and Slovakia.
For more information please see this site (Bulletin section):
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church - Ruthenian origins and published works of Monsignor Baran [
stnicholaschurch.ca]
Happy belated
'Mnohaja Lita' (Many years) to Monsignor and Doctor Alexander Baran, a Carpatho-Ukrainian who was only recently been elevated to this high honour by the Holy Father John Paul 2.
Hritzko
