www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Cardinal to visit Rochester!

This Saturday evening at 6pm His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar will be celebrating pontifical Divine Liturgy at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church.

This is about 10 minutes from my house in bad traffic. I plan on attending.

There will be a wine and hors d'oeuvre reception afterwards. I also plan on attending this.

I am really looking forward to this.

His Beatitude seems to be making a tour of his old stomping grounds. He was ordained as a Priest for the Eparchy of Stamford in the 1950s, and served as a pastor in upstate New York.

Was he based that far up North ?

I though he was the parish priest at Soyuzivka (Suzy-Q) in Kerhonkson (Catskills) ?

Hritzko

He studied at St. Basil's in Stamford, was later Prefect of St. Basil's, and also studied I believe at Fordham.

Yes, Greg, he was also the pastor of SuzyQ.

Well now, it was a great Liturgy!

But it was almost all in Ukrainian. Even afterwards when the Patriarch came to the reception he only spoke in Ukrainian. That was disappointing.

In addition to the Patriarch, Bishop Basil Losten of the Eparchy of Stamford, and Bishop Matthew Clark of the Diocese of Rochester were present.

The Liturgy was just over 2 hours long.

All in all it was a wonderful night!

Just thought you all might like to know...

Since the Patriarch speaks quite fluent English, and Saint Josaphat's includes a large contingent of English-speaking faithful, it appears that His Beatitude was playing to the grandstand - and the wrong grandstand in this particular case.
Incognitus

Yes this seems to be the case.

Two Lungs made the comment that it appears that the Patriarch is "making a tour of his old stomping grounds", this isn't totally correct.

He is making the rounds to raise money for his cathedral that is currently under construction in Ukraine. So I believe that is part of the reason for him speaking in Ukrainian only.

At the reception, when Bishop Basil started to talk about the cathedral he spoke in English but then started to speak in Ukrainian. He asked if they wanted him to speakin Ukrainian only and there was a big cheer. I didn't know what he said so I asked a friend and the told me. From then on only Ukrainian was spoken by the bishop.

What I find disappointing is that they knew that there were non-Ukrainian speaking guests at the reception, as we were invited to attend the reception at the end of the Liturgy.

Sad, very sad...

Even on a purely pragmatic level the Patriarch and the Bishop should have realized that thar's gold in them thar anglophone hills!
Incognitus

What David relates, however, is the kind of response and reaction many get with the Ukranian Catholics in the US. It is not true all over, but there tends to be more "ethnicity" issues within the UCC than I find agreeable. Many parishes are known for this policy -- talking only in Ukranian, and giving the cold shoulder to visitors.

Saying this, I am not saying all are like this, nor am I saying I cannot understand it to some degree. But it is a common problem, and I think one of the first things which they need to work on for any evangelism.

Most elderly Ukrainians who left Ukraine decades ago remember a time when they were subjected to a society where Polish, Russian, Hungarian, or even German were considered superior languages and even cultures. They had to defend, protect, and cultivate their native language at every level of society. In the new world, many made great sacrificies to teach their children the language of their ancestors. To these people it's almost insulting that THEIR 'world class' Patriarch would speak any language other than their native Ukrainian to them.

The paradox is that in Ukraine, the multilingual talents of the Patriarch are vere much positively seen by all cadres of society - including nonsecular segments. The Ukrainian media always goes out of it's way to specifically mention the language in which the Patriarch spoke when conducting church affairs with foreign leaders.

Hritzko

Those who left Ukraine all those decades ago remember a situation in which Ukrainian was considered a "bumpkin language" and the occupiers did not hesitate to say such things. This persisted well within living memory, as John Kolasky in particular documented.
Now, the situation is different. Ukrainian has gained what linguists call "dignitas", which makes it possible for Ukrainian-speakers to take real pride in the linguistic attainments of the Patriarch.
An important landmakr in this process was the visit of Pope John Paul II three years ago and his admirable choice to speak Ukrainian almost exclusively. This was widely noticed, and widely appreciated.
My point was the practical one: building the new cathedral is an expensive proposition. Moreover, it will be - I devoutly hope - the world center for Greek-Catholics who do not speak Ukrainian as well as those who do. Hence some acknowledgement of this is certainly appropriate. Saint Josaphat's parish in Rochester has a Divine Liturgy every Sunday in English, with an excellent English-language choir and a good-sized congregation. Since the Patriarch was visiting that church, these parishioners should also have been made to feel welcome and recognized.
Incognitus