CWNews.com - Confirming reports that began circulating yesterday, the Vatican has announced the resignation of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kyiv (Kiev), the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
The 77-year-old Ukrainian prelate had asked Pope Benedict XVI to accept his resignation because of his declining health-- in particular, his failing eyesight.
Archbishop Igor Vozniack of Lviv will step in as the administrator of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. He will be responsible for convening a synod of the Ukrainian Catholic bishops to elect Cardinal Husar's successor as Major Archbishop.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church, with at least 7 million faithful worldwide, is by far the largest of the Byzantine churches in communion with the Holy See. Ukrainian Catholics have urged the Holy See to recognize a Byzantine Catholic patriarchate in Ukraine: a proposal that Cardinal Husar supported. However, Cardinal Husar declined suggestions that he should unilaterally declare a Catholic patriarchate of Kyiv, saying that he would not "force the issue" against the wishes of the Vatican.
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