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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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Kiev - In 2009 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church celebrated the 20th anniversary of legalization, which took place after decades of totalitarian prohibition and persecution. In a number of cities, such as Lviv, Drohobych, Ternopil’, Ivano-Frankivs’k, Sambir and others, solemn celebrations of this anniversary were conducted. The people recalled the events of the past 20 years and expressed their gratitude to God for the gift of freedom.
Bishop Lavrentiy (Hutsalyak), Metropolitan of Winnipeg, shared his memories about how our people in Canada perceived the emergence of the Church from the underground with the Information Department. He in particular noted: “For us in Canada this event caused great joy, although it was hard to believe it. We already knew about the political changes in the Soviet Union, but did not know whether these changes would have an effect on the Church’s life in Ukraine. When finally everything was completed with the legalization of our Church we were glad that our people could go to their churches, pray together, meet each other, and be themselves. Freedom is indeed a great gift for which we are infinitely thankful to God.”
In addition to the memories about the past of the UGCC, Bishop Lavrentiy also described how the Church in Ukraine lives and has developed since it obtained freedom. “I see great changes for the better. It does not mean that all affairs run perfectly and successfully. There are problems which we resolve. But in general we see a new spiritual development of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and it gives us new enthusiasm and energy to work for our Church and people,” Metropolitan of Winnipeg said.
In the period from 1946 to 1989 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was the largest banned church in the world. At the same time it became the largest structure of public opposition to the Soviet system in the USSR. Despite cruel persecution, the Church, due to the carefully worked out system of secret seminaries, monasteries, parishes and youth groups, continued to live in the underground until it was legalized on December 1, 1989.
Information Department of the UGCC
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CWNews.com - After three more bombing attacks on Christian institutions in Mosul, Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk has warned that a campaign of “ethnic and religious cleansing” is underway in the Iraqi city. A baby girl was killed, and 40 people wounded, when bombs hit two Catholic churches and grenades were tossed at a Catholic school. The archbishop urgently called for tighter security to stop the anti-Christian violence. One frightened resident told AsiaNews that the Christian minority in Mosul may be “a community destined to die.”
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Orthodox Archbishop Offers to Help Europe Fight Secularism
WASHINGTON, D.C., DEC. 14, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Things are moving on the Eastern front. And more movement may be coming soon, as an old winter chill in Rome-Moscow relations seems to be thawing, with profound consequences for Europe and the entire world.
Vatican observers have been following these developments with great attention. "For Rome and Moscow, It's Spring Again," the respected Italian Vatican observer Sandro Magister noted in a Dec. 11 column.
This improvement in relations is due in part to many quiet steps taken by the Vatican under the direction of Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's chief ecumenist, who led the Vatican delegation to a week-long theological dialogue in Cyprus, and by Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the Pope's very able nuncio to Moscow.
Magister, however, was commenting on two key recent events: (1) the upgrading of relations between the Holy See and Russia, and (2) the publication in Russia, for the first time ever, of a collection of Benedict XVI's homilies.
And this "springtime" has a goal, Magister argues: "the defense of the Christian tradition" in Europe and around the world.
So what we have, essentially, is the announcement of a new alliance on the world stage between two powers that have long distrusted each other: Rome and Russia.
Incredible as it may seem -- given that just 20 years ago Russia was the atheist, Church-persecuting Soviet Union -- this is what seems to be occurring right before our eyes.
On Dec. 9, following a meeting in the Vatican between the Pope and the president of Russia, Dimitri Medvedev, Russia and the Vatican announced "the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, at the level of apostolic nunciature on the part of the Holy See, and of embassy on the part of the Russian Federation."
The week before, Benedict XVI had received Medvedev in audience at the Vatican and gave him a copy, in Russian, of the encyclical "Caritas in Veritate."
On Dec. 2, the day before Medvedev met with the Pope, a book published by the Patriarchate of Moscow containing the main speeches about Europe made over the past 10 years by Joseph Ratzinger, as cardinal and Pope, was presented in Rome.
The entire volume is in two languages, Italian and Russian -- again, a sign of the ever-closer relations between Russia and Rome.
Kindred spirit
Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the patriarchate's department for external Church relations, wrote the introduction for the book. The archbishop is an increasingly important figure in the Russian Orthodox Church, and in the Orthodox world. (The previous occupant of this post, Kirill, was elected patriarch of Moscow earlier this year, which suggests the possible future importance of Archbishop Hilarion himself.)
In his introduction, Archbishop Hilarion, 43, sets forth his vision for Europe, and the new "alliance" needed to realize that vision. It is a remarkable text, which we can only touch upon here.
Magister was so impressed by this introduction that he wrote: "Those who expect an Orthodox Church removed from time, made up only of remote traditions and archaic liturgies, will come away shaken from reading the introduction to this book. [...]
"The image that emerges from it is that of a Russian Orthodox Church that refuses to let itself be locked up in a ghetto, but on the contrary hurls itself against the secularist onslaught with all the peaceful weapons at its disposal, not excluding civil disobedience against laws 'that oblige the commission of a sin in the eyes of God.'"
Those in the West, both in Europe and in the United States, who feel that unjust laws have been passed that cannot be countenanced by Christians, will find a kindred spirit in Archbishop Hilarion.
The title of the Orthodox archbishop's text is, "The Help That the Russian Orthodox Church Can Give to Europe."
It begins with a very candid, and deeply felt, lamentation by an Orthodox leader for the closing of Catholic and Protestant churches in Western Europe.
"When traveling in Europe, especially in the traditionally Protestant countries, I am always astonished at seeing not a few churches abandoned by their congregations, especially the ones turned into pubs, clubs, shops, or places of profane activities of yet another kind," Archbishop Hilarion writes. "There is something profoundly deplorable in this sad spectacle.
"I come from a country in which for many decades the churches were used for nonreligious purposes. Many places of worship were completely destroyed. […] Why has the space for religion in Western society been reduced in such a significant way in recent decades?"
Help for the West
Then Archbishop Hilarion makes his main point: Russia can help. Russia can come to the rescue of the West.
"The Russian Orthodox Church, with its unique experience of surviving the harshest persecutions, struggling against militant atheism, reemerging from the ghetto when the political situation changed, recovering its place in society and redefining its social responsibilities, can therefore be of help to Europe," he writes.
Then he draws a line in the sand.
"The totalitarian dictatorship of the past cannot be replaced with a new dictatorship of pan-European government mechanisms. […] The countries of Orthodox tradition, for example, do not accept laws that legalize euthanasia, homosexual marriage, drug trafficking, the maintenance of brothels, pornography, and so on."
In short, the archbishop is saying that the Orthodox, including the Russian Orthodox Church which he represents, are ready to fight for Christian values in the West, alongside Catholics and Protestants.
And Archbishop Hilarion does not exclude disobedience against unjust laws.
"Obviously, disobedience of civil law is an extreme measure that a particular Church might adopt in exceptional circumstances," he writes. "It is nonetheless a possibility that must not be excluded a priori, in case a system of secularized values should become the only one operating in Europe."
Was this a random, unrepresentative text, out of the mainstream?
Well, one indication that it is not merely a stray opinion, but rather part of a growing consensus, is that the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano saw fit to publish Archbishop Hilarion's text almost in its entirety on Dec. 2.
John Thavis, the distinguished Vaticanist for Catholic News Service -- of the U.S. bishops' conference -- wrote Dec. 11: "The Russian Orthodox Church has come forward to propose a strategic alliance with the Catholic Church aimed, in effect, at saving Europe's soul from 'Western post-Christian humanism.' The offer came in an introduction written by Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion to a book of speeches by Benedict XVI on Europe's spiritual crisis, published in Russian by the Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate. In an unusual move, the Vatican newspaper published almost the entire introduction in its Dec. 2 edition."
Thavis notes that Archbishop Hilarion's proposal comes precisely as 140 Christian leaders in the United States met in New York and issued the "Manhattan Declaration" pledging renewed zeal in defending the unborn, defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and protecting religious freedom.
And, Thavis summed up, "Vatican officials made no formal response to the archbishop's text, but read it with great interest."
St. Gregory of Nazianzus
This introduction by Archbishop Hilarion should not come as a surprise. During the last four years, the archbishop has spoken publicly a number of times of such an alliance. In fact, in May 2006 the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate held a weeklong conference in Vienna, which I attended, outlining the framework for such cooperation.
Last month, I traveled to Russia and met with Archbishop Hilarion and his close associates.
One of them is Leonid Sevastianov, 31, the executive director of the Russian Orthodox St. Gregory of Nazianzus Charitable Foundation, established a few weeks ago with the blessing of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to help carry out Archbishop Hilarion's vision of working with Western Christians on behalf of Christian values.
"We want your help, the help of Catholics, and of Western Europeans and Americans," Sevastianov told me. "Patriarch Kirill has called for the moral renewal of Russia, through a return to the deep values of the Christian faith. This is our vision." (Forbes magazine in November named Patriarch Kirill as one of the most powerful leaders in Russia today.)
St. Gregory of Nazianzus was a theologian in the 300s, well before the division of the Church into East and West, and so is venerated both by the Catholics and by the Orthodox. He is a Father of the Church for all Christians.
The co-founders of this new foundation are Archbishop Hilarion and Vadim Yakunin, one of the wealthiest businessmen in Russia.
Other wealthy Russians are also prepared to support this foundation. But participation by Americans and Western Europeans would also be very much appreciated, Archbishop Hilarion and Sevastianov told me.
"We want to try to attract the attention of religious believers, in Russia and abroad, who believe in traditional Christian values, and who want to contribute to making society more just and more moral," Sevastianov said.
"We want to promote the idea of the unity between the West and Russia on the basis of common Christian roots."
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Robert Moynihan is founder and editor of the monthly magazine Inside the Vatican. He is the author of the book "Let God's Light Shine Forth: the Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI" (2005, Doubleday). Moynihan's blog can be found at www.insidethevatican.com. He can be reached at:
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Chevetogne, Belgium - The Monastery of Chevetogne announces the release of new audio recording (on CD) with the Vigil (Vespers and Matins) for the Feast of the Encounter of Christ with Simeon and Anna (February 2nd) together with hymns to the Mother of God.
From the press release:
The Feast of the Encounter (in Greek: Ypapanti), which the Churches of East and West celebrate on February 2nd, commemorates the gospel account of Christ's Presentation in the Temple. Far from being simply an anniversary of this ritual and legal Presentation, the feast celebrates something which took place at the fringes of this event, namely the Encounter as recorded by the evangelist Luke (Lk 2:22-38).
The feast is bathed in an atmosphere of mystery and peace. It represents the conclusion of the season of Christmas - and here it acquires the sense of a Marian feast, that is, a feast which celebrates an aspect of the mystery of the Incarnation. It is also the transition toward the period of Lent and the Passion. The two cycles, as it were, 'meet' here, and this encounter is personified in a mysterious way - but the more embodied - in the Mother of Jesus, Mary.
This recording ends with three hymns to Mary the Mother of God. They correspond to three solemn moments of each liturgical day (Matins, Liturgy and Compline). We hope that these hymns might help all those who so desire to structure their day according to a threefold Encounter with the mystery of Christ, sustained by the liturgical rhythm of the Church and of our monastery.
A flyer can be found at this link. The Monastery of Chevetogne currently has a number of CDs available for purchase. The North American distributor is St. Nicholas Monastery in Beacon, NY. Click here for the full listing of available CDs. Click here for the order form. The website for the Monastere de Chevetogne is www.monasterechevetogne.com.
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Brookline, MA - On the weekend of November 6th through 8th, three students from Christ the Saviour Seminary—Subdeacon Joseph Gingrich, Subdeacon Gregory Robel and Reader David Mastroberte—represented our seminary at the Fall meeting of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) held at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. In addition to our seminarians, this meeting brought together representatives from the host school, Holy Cross; Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY; Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA; Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY; and Saint Herman’s Orthodox Seminary in Kodiak, AK.
The seminarians joined in several Divine Services, formal and informal meetings, a presentation by Archimandrite Joachim Cotsonis on Saint Nicholas, an OCF Coffee House night, and a sight-seeing trip to downtown Boston. As OISM Vice President, Subdeacon Joseph took part in the executive board meeting along with Subdeacon Gregory. Our seminarians thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to renew old friendships and create new ones among their fellow Orthodox seminarians.
Christ the Saviour Seminary has a long history with OISM, hosting several gatherings of the organization throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s. After a period of dormancy, OISM has resumed regular meetings, and Christ the Saviour Seminary is again actively involved.
The next meeting of OISM will be at St. Tikhon’s Seminary in February, 2010.
For story and photos go to this link.
Source: www.acrod.org
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09.12.2009, [16:39] // UGCC // RISU.ORG.UA
The Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) received an email with a report stating that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kazakhstan has launched its official website at the address www.ugcc-kazakhstan.com. It is now possible to get direct information about life and activity of Greek Catholics in Kazakhstan from the web site. The web site of UGCC posted this story on December 7, 2009.
On the new website one will be able to find out about the parishes, priests and sisters who minister in Kazakhstan, and the history of the Greek Catholic Church in the country. Also, one will be able to read the latest news from the different parishes. Information about pastors affiliated with Kazakhstan including beatitude bishop Mykyta Budka, Fr. Oleksii Zarytskyi, Servant of God bishop Oleksandr Khira will also be available. In time multimedia materials will be accessible including unique records from the prayer services of Bishop Khira, photo copies of archive documents, and so on.
The UGCC hopes that the site will be interesting and informative and all interested people will be able to discover more about the life of Greek Catholics in distant Kazakhstan.
• http://www.ugcc.org.ua
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