www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News New Bishop for Czech Exarchate

Soory, but I'm against any type of "mob rule",or blocking access to any church regardless of which church or jurisdiction.To me, it is too reminiscent of the tactics used by the communists to disrupt services.Here I speak as an Orthodox priest, so I am more neutral in the whole Rusyn/Ukrainian split.Lest anyone think I'm Ukrainian bashing(my own ancestry includes Ukrainian,Polish, Russian, and Scottish),I want to say for the record that I equally condemn Russians or Russian-oriented Ukrainians who blocked access of Patriarch Filaret of Kiev to a church as noted in another posting here.

Dear DJS,

You are correct in guessing that I do not have the specific reasons for the rejection of this bishop. You have to ask a lot of people many questions over a long period of time to get the specific details. I don't believe that they demonstrated without a strong foundation to their argument. If they demonstrated as they did, then their complaint was valid. I truly believe it's about a prior record vs some abstract Vatican performance evaluation turned into promotion for episcopal elevation.

You should not worry about UGCC in "Lviv appointing bishops" because all decisions are now made in Kyiv. That of course should make you much happier. In fact, I don't think Kyiv cares who is appointed, but only that the Greek Catholic rite is strenghthened. This was the philosophy of two of the UGCC priests I knew in Montreal, one who served divine liturgy for over 20 years in the Slovak Greek Catholic Church, and the other who was a professor at the Lviv Theological institute for a few years after independance. They were more about Greek Catholism than anything else. The orientation objection has more to do with the local adherants. It also has to do with the bulk of the Greek Catholic Carpatho-Rusyns who now also identify themselves as Ukrainian.

Also, I hate to put a damper on this whole thread, but this story is so low on the UGCC radar that I'm not sure that Kyiv cares, or for that matter has any position relating to the event. I got my details through some very second hand sources (but good reliable info anyway) and have yet to read about it in any of the Ukrainian news papers. I truly believe the actions of the Greek Catholic adherants in Prague were the spontaneous outporings of people who had witnessed the severe Latinization of their church over the decades - period. There is no master plan to 'take down the Dixie'.

The Czech newpaper article makes no mention of the UGCC patriarchate or Ukraine at all. It just states that the people want a Ukrainian orientation bishop. Someone who can bring the ethnic character back to their exarchate. I have heard some of these same type of comments made by forum members who belong to the USA Ruthenian Byzantine Metropolia. It seems that they would welcome the 'zeal' of the once numerous Carpathian and Galician priests to their Metropolia.

We may never know the details, but perception is everything. Reconcilliation by 'Mother' Mukachevo will also have to include plans for to merge with the largest Apostolic Carpatho-Rusyn Church which is now the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - MP. A strong and genuine reorientation of the Greek Catholic Church back to it's Rusyn roots will be necessary for this monumental task. IMHO, this will require a complete purging of all Magyarphiles, real or perceived. Again, I think that the official European Slovak Greek Catholic Web site would be congruent with much of what I have posted about the Hungarians and the Greek Catholic rite.

I'm glad to hear that reconcilliation is at hand at the US Byzantine Metropolia. Please post your most recent pictures of your Metropolia, the ACROD, and the UGCC members meeting for a show of unity of all All apostolic Carpatho-Rusyns / Ukrainians churches.

Hritzko

Dear Fr. Al,

I would tend to agree with your comments. As I have mentioned in my posts, the UGCC has had problems in the past with bishops and it's always draining and unproductive. It appears to me that the USA Byzantine Catholic Metropolia had similar problems in the past with one of their eparchs.

The whole Rusyn - Ukrainian issue seems to be only centered here in the USA. In Canada, or anywhere else in the world where Greek Catholic Slovaks and/or Ruthenians and UGCC members seem to get along famously. In fact, when I live in Paris we had members in our parish from the Carpathian mountains, including from Priashivschtyna (Presov area). We all spoke Ukrainian and got along fine.

I have mentioned several situations where Greek Catholics have experienced problems with their eparchs. The 'situations' are always draining.

The situation in Krym (the Crimea) is very different, well organized by a foreign government (ie; Russia) and has been engineered as a pretext for the annexation of the region, and perhaps more territory. The reasons are far more sinister and little to do with religion as we know it. The situation consists of a foreign government well funding a group of 'professionals' who have little religion in their lives, and are seeking nothing more than the annexation of Krym (the Crimea) and any part of Ukraine they can get. This act is an outward sign / act of the new Imperialistic Putin Government of Russia and is aimed at reconstituting the USSR, without the communism.

I also do not believe that the Ukrainian government is not letting it happen without a reason. Patriach Filaret and Husar are the two most popular religious figures in Ukraine. If you rain on their parade, there will be a price to pay.

Hritzko

Good morning.

The consecration of Bishop Jan Eugen Kocis took place on Saturday, 15 May 2004, in the Exarchate`s Cathedral of St. Clement in Prague. The consecrator was Bishop Djura Dzudzar, Apostolic Exarch for Serbia and Montenegro, and the co-consecrators were Bishop Jan Babjak, S.J., of Presov, and Bishop Ladislav Hucko, Exarch for the Czech Republic.

To Vladyka Jan - many years!

Charles

May God grant Vladyka Jan many years