Chapter 17 The Mixed Commission of March 1990

During the meeting on 16 January 1990 at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate agreed to form a Mixed Commission to discuss various questions arising from the restoration of legal status to the GreekCatholic Church in the USSR. Among the points at issue, the matter of Greek-Catholic religious edifices which the Stalin government had given to the Moscow Patriarchate aroused particular controversy. In Rome, Patriarch Myroslav-lvan (Cardinal Lubachivsky) addressed the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity on 12 February 1990 with the request that his Chancellor, Msgr. Iwan Dacko, be included on such a commission and be present at all future meetings where the Greek-Catholic Church might be on the agenda. The Vatican entrusted Patriarch Myroslav-lvan with the task of nominating two representatives from inside Ukraine, but did not accept his nomination of Msgr. Iwan Dacko. 2 3 9 Instead, the Vatican named two representatives: Archbishop Miroslav Marusyn (from the Roman Curia) and Archbishop Stephen Sulyk (the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Metropolitan of Philadelphia, USA). Patriarch Myroslav-lvan nominated Metropolitan Volodymyr of L'viv, and Bishop Sophronius of Ivano-Frankivsk.

Each time that Patriarch Myroslav-lvan (Cardinal Lubachivsky) attempted to nominate Msgr. Iwan Dacko to such commissions, the Vatican refused on the ground that such delegates must be bishops. Nevertheless, at least one participant from the Vatican (Msgr. Salvatore Scribano) is not a bishop, and neither are all the representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate bishops.

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The Moscow Patriarchate also nominated four representatives to this Mixed Commission: Metropolitan Methodius of Voroniezh and Lipietsk, Bishop Theodosius of Khmelnytsky and Kamianets-Podilskiy (these two were named to represent the Patriarchate directly, Archbishop Ireneus of L'viv and Drohobych, and Archpriest Alexander Shvets, Dean of the L'viv region (Archbishop Ireneus and Archpriest Alexander were appointed to represent the Moscow Patriarchate's Ukrainian Exarchate, re-named "the Ukrainian Orthodox Church"). On 28 February 1990 it was announced that the Vatican delegation would go to the USSR on 5 March, and that the Commission would begin its sessions in L'viv. Patriarch Myroslav-lvan prepared a 15-point document as a basis for the discussions, and provided this text to Metropolitan Volodymyr (by telephone dictation) on 2 March. Archbishop Stephen Sulyk stopped in Rome and met for 90 minutes with Patriarch Myroslav-lvan on 4 March Archbishop Marusyn did not meet with Patriarch Myroslavlvan, but received Msgr. Ivan Dacko for an extended discussion before leaving for the USSR with Archbishop Sulyk. Archbishop Sulyk was carrying typed copies of Patriarch Myroslav-Ivan's 15-point document for each of the Catholic participants in the Mixed Commission. The Vatican delegation did not go straight to L'viv. Archbishops Marusyn and Sulyk went first to Moscow and then to Kiev, where the Moscow Patriarchal Exarch Philaret Denysenko asked them to summon Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius to Kiev for a preliminary meeting. The Vatican delegates had not provided themselves with telephone numbers to enable them to contact the Greek-Catholic hierarchs in Western Ukraine directly. Metropolitan Philaret offered his assistance, so Archbishop Marusyn dispatched a telegram in care of the Moscow Patriarchate's Archbishop Ireneus in L'viv, summoning Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius to Kiev at once. Metropolitan Volodymyr received this message 166

6 March at 4:00 PM and had to board the overnight train to iev two hours later (the Metropolitan was 83 years of age). Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius arrived ;n Kiev at 8:00 AM on 7 March and discovered that they were expected at the Kiev offices of the Moscow Patriarchate, where Metropolitan Philaret offered them breakfast. The Vatican delegates did not confer with the two Greek-Catholic hierarchs before the first session began at 10:00 AM.
n

Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius have

expressed specific complaints regarding these meetings on 7

March. They assert that Archbishop Marusyn silenced them and would not permit them to raise matters which they considered to be of primary importance. There was no agreed formal agenda; Archbishop Marusyn permitted the Moscow Patriarchate to dictate the order of discussion. Msgr. Marusyn permitted an additional participant from the Moscow Patriarchate in the person of Archimandrite Nestor (introduced as a secretary), but would not permit Metropolitan Volodymyr to add a GreekCatholic secretary. The sessions were held in the Moscow Patriarchate's Kiev offices, with the doors open so that the chancery staff in the next room could easily listen to the discussion. These chancery workers continually came into the meeting room with slips of paper and information for the Moscow Patriarchate representatives. After the 7 March sessions in Kiev, a document titled "Appeal of the Quadripartite Commission for the Normalization of Relations between the Orthodox and the Catholics of the Eastern Rite (Greek-Catholics) in Western Ukraine" was released to the press. Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius did not sign this appeal, and have disavowed it. It was signed by Archbishop Marusyn, and apparently also by Archbishop Sulyk. The Greek-Catholics criticized several points:

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1. the terminology and language used offend the GreekCatholics; 2. the section about religious edifices in rural areas where both Churches have congregations is vaguely worded, so that it is unclear who is obligated to do what for whom; 3. the postponement of any consideration of disputed urban religious edifices appeared to relegate to the distant future issues which the Greek-Catholics held to be of urgent and pressing importance (such as the Cathedrals in L'viv and Uzhhorod); 4. the appeal to the faithful not to interfere in political problems is without precedent, and unacceptable in a society committed to democracy and growing in political awareness. On 8 March 1990, the Mixed Commission flew from Kiev to L'viv. More than two thousand persons (including two Greek-Catholic bishops) greeted the Commission at L'viv airport; Mr Ivan Gel' (of the Committee for the Defence of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church) welcomed the Commission with the traditional bread and salt. The Catholic delegates travelled by motorcade from the airport to the Church of the Transfiguration; thousands of faithful lined the route to welcome them. Despite the triumphant welcome, Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius became increasingly distressed by the behavior of Archbishops Marusyn and Sulyk. The Vatican delegates permitted serious irregularities in the scheduled visits to various localities: " . . . any informed observer could have seen the enormity of what was occurring. The Orthodox team were able to telephone ahead to acquire intelligence on whether there were more of their own people or Catholics gathered in a particular place, and they changed the route frequently to avoid meetings which would have been detrimental to their own cause.

"The most distressing example occurred at IvanoFrankivsk, where Ukrainian [Greek-Catholic] bishops, priests, nuns and the faithful in their tens of thousands were waiting, only for the Orthodox delegation to find out and cancel the visit on the entirely fictitious pretext that Archbishop Sterniuk was ill. People complained to Fr Dacko that the commission had done more for Moscow than for the local people."240 Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius accused the two Vatican delegates of supporting the Moscow Patriarchate's attempt to take over functioning Greek-Catholic churches in seven communities (Boryslav, Zolochiv, Nesteriv, Mykolayiv, Stryi, Yavoriv, and Mshana). The Moscow Patriarchate representatives used the alleged work of the Commission to convince local government authorities to prevent parishes from returning to the Greek-Catholic Church. Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius attempted to raise the specific issue of Saint George's Cathedral in L'viv the Moscow Patriarchate representatives threatened to walk out of the meeting if this matter was raised, whereupon Archbishop Marusyn ordered the Greek-Catholic delegates to drop the matter. The newly-elected People's Deputies (members of parliament) and other lay representatives wished to address the Mixed Commission, but Archbishop Marusyn and Archbishop Sulyk did not agree (the two Vatican delegates have since asserted that the Greek-Catholic Church in the USSR is controlled by the laity). Finally it was decided that the Vatican delegation (not the entire commission) would receive the People's Deputies on Sunday afternoon, 11 March. On Sunday morning, 11 March 1990, Metropolitan Volodymyr, Archbishop Marusyn, Archbishop Sulyk, Bishop
Michael Bourdeaux, "Ukrainian Imbroglio", The Tablet, 12 May 1990, p, 57; republished as "A Delicate Task", Catholic International I, 2, 15 -31 October 1990, pp 73-74.
240

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Sophronius, Bishop Julian, Bishop Philemon, and Bishon Michael served Divine Liturgy at Transfiguration Church in L'viv. This was the first time that Kyr Michael appeared in In public as a bishop. 24 ! ^ About 30,000 faithful attended. During this service Archbishop Marusyn exhorted the Greek-Catholics to "have faith in the Holy See and its delegation. We understand the sufferings you have undergone and we have your concerns in our hearts". That afternoon Irene Kalynets, newly-elected People's Deputy of the Ukrainian SSR, publicly expressed her dissatisfaction directly to Archbishops Marusyn and Sulyk. In addition to her elected office, Ms. Kalynets is a leader of the Christian women's organization which had organized the Saint Nicholas Day service for children in December 1988, and a former prisoner of conscience. Other prominent people also expressed serious criticism of the Vatican delegation. On Monday, 12 March, the Vatican representatives met with the ten Greek-Catholic bishops. However, the GreekCatholic participants assert that nothing of substance was discussed during this meeting. On Tuesday, 13 March, the Mixed Commission held a closing session. After a final attempt to achieve a substantive discussion, Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius considered the work of the Commission so unsatisfactory that they had to withdraw, lest their presence should appear to ratify any conclusions or documents which the commission might issue. Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius presented the fourteen points which the Greek-Catholic Church accepts as a basis for negotiations, and then the two hierarchs left the Commission.

The same day, the two Vatican representatives l e f t L'viv; Metropolitan Volodymyr and the other Greek-Catholic hierarchs advised Archbishop Marusyn and Archbishop Sulyk not to return to Ukraine. No one saw them off at the airport. Many people in Western Ukraine are Greek-Catholic, so
issues to do with the Church are of public importance. The

malaise caused by the Mixed Commission was so serious that Mayor Bohdan Kotyk of L'viv considered it necessary to appeal on television for calm. People's Deputies, public officials, and Greek-Catholic clergy and laity sent thousands of telegrams to the Pope and other Church officials in Rome protesting the conduct of the two Vatican representatives, urging that Archbishops Marusyn and Sulyk be recalled and suitable delegates appointed. Metropolitan Volodymyr summoned the Greek-Catholic bishops of Ukraine to a synod meeting on Saturday, 17 March at Transfiguration Church; seven hierarchs took part. The Metropolitan with his auxiliaries Kyr Philemon and Kyr Michael represented the Archdiocese of L'viv: Bishop Julian represented the part of the diocese of Peremyshl' located in Ukraine; Bishop Sophronius and his coadjutor Bishop Paul [Vasylyk] of Ivano-Frankivsk took part; and Bishop John (Semedi) of Mukachevo-Uzhhorod signed the acts of the synod on 22 March his auxiliary Bishop John [Margitych] represented the Transcarpathian diocese at the session. The text of the declaration of the synod on the collapse of the Mixed Commission is included in the Appendix, with the fourteen points which the Greek-Catholic Church holds as the basis for negotiation. Some matters raised by the hierarchy are of particular importance: 1. because of the withdrawal of Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius, no document emanating from the Mixed Commission has any legal value;

241

Keston News Service, No. 346, 22 March 1990, p. 7.

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2. the underlying difficulty is the refusal of the Moscow Patriarchate to recognize that the Greek-Catholics constitute a Church, a canonical-juridical entity, rather than being a disorganized agglomerate of individuals; 3. there is no point in holding any further meetings of such a commission until the fundamental questions are agreed upon; 4. the Greek-Catholic Church is morally and legally entitled to the full restoration of all ecclesiastical properties confiscated by the Stalin government since 17 September 1939, and considers it proper to negotiate this matter directly with the Soviet state rather than with the Moscow Patriarchate; 5. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church constitutes one body in Ukraine and in the diaspora, governed by the Synod located in L'viv; 6. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church will be raised to the Patriarchal dignity "at the appropriate earliest date". The complete text of the declaration and the fourteen points should be read closely. Metropolitan Volodymyr read out the entire document over L'viv television on Wednesday, 21 March; the next day the L'viv newspaper Lenins'ka Molod' published the complete text. 242 As Canon Michael Bourdeaux commented, after the experience with the Vatican delegates to the Mixed Commission "It may prove almost as difficult to restore the confidence of Ukrainian Catholics in the Vatican bureaucracy as to establish good relations between them and the Russian Orthodox Church." 243

Chapter 18 Saint George's Cathedral Regained

Despite the fiasco of the Quadripartite Commission, the Greek-Catholics continued to demand the return of their church properties. On Friday, 6 April 1990, the L'viv City Council of people's Deputies voted overwhelmingly to return Saint George's Cathedral to the Greek-Catholic Church by 12 April, Holy Thursday. The Moscow Patriarchate appealed this decision, and refused to hand over the premises on the appointed date. 244 The Cathedral Choir withdrew in a body, declaring themselves Greek-Catholics, and announcing that they would no longer sing in the Cathedral until Greek-Catholic services were restored there. The Cathedral Choir sang the services of Holy Week and Easter at Shevchenko Grove where the GreekCatholic Studite monks have regained two small churches. These buildings had been part of the L'viv Museum of Wooden Architecture, so their restoration to Greek-Catholic use did not involve any conflict with the Moscow Patriarchate. The Basilians regained their Monastery of Saint Onuphrius with its beautiful church, which had been housing the Ivan Fedorov Museum of old printed books. The Redemptorists regained monasteries and parish churches in Ternopil and Drohobych. By the latter part of 1990 the Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine had rather more than eleven hundred priests (including those received from the Moscow Patriarchate) and about seven hundred nuns (most of the Sisters were under the age of forty). A number of seminarians who had been enrolled in seminaries

242 Most of the information in this chapter comes from a report by Msgr. Iwan Dacko and Marko Tomashek given to "Aid to the Church in Need" on 26 March 1990, and Canon Michael Bourdeaux, "Ukrainian Imbroglio" in the Tablet. 12 May 1990, p. 579. 243 Bourdeaux, ibid., and Keston News Service, No. 346, 22 March 1990, pp. 5-7.

244

Keston News Service, No. 348, 20 April 1990, p. 2.

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of the Moscow Patriarchate withdrew from these schools and enrolled as candidates for the Greek-Catholic priesthood. There are occasional rumours that some bishops remain in secret (besides Metropolitan Volodymyr and the nine other hierarchs who are known), but no one appears able to confirm this report. The older hierarchs and clergy still remember the terrible years when there were no bishops at all, and very few priests, and one can appreciate the caution which might lead the hierarchy to keep some bishops in reserve, so to speak, so that such a devastation may not occur again. During the spring and summer of 1990, many visitors were able to come to Ukraine from the West. Just after the collapse of the Quadripartite Commission, in late March, Msgr. Iwan Dacko (Patriarch Myroslav-Ivan Cardinal Lubachivsky's Chancellor in Rome) went to L'viv with Marko Tomashek of Aid to the Church in Need. Msgr. Dacko and Mr. Tomashek presented a full report at the Aid to the Church in Need Congress at the end of March; this report reached the personal attention of Pope John Paul II. Under the auspices of the Patriarchal Chancery in Rome, Ms. Sonya Hlutkowska of the Ukrainian Catholic Press Office led a group of Western journalists to the USSR during Holy Week and Easter. The group met with government officials and Church leaders in Moscow, Kiev, and L'viv. In Moscow, the Council for Religious Affairs asserted that the Vatican does not recognize the Greek-Catholic Bishops in the USSR, and that the failure to list these bishops in the Annuario Pontificio (the directory of the Catholic hierarchy published by the Holy See every year) proves this. In Kiev, Nicholas Kolesnyk of the Council for Religious Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR tried to tell the journalists that no one had deprived the Greek-Catholics of their church edifices in 1946 the Greek-CatholicS had relinquished their buildings voluntarily because they preferred to hold open-air services! The journalists laughed in his face.

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press

In L'viv Metropolitan Volodymyr gave his first full-scale conference and the journalists also met with public officials who expressed their support for the Church. The L'viv Council of People's Deputies adopted a resolution apologizing to the Greek-Catholic Church for the decades of persecution. The Church continued to gather strength in the changing Soviet society. In Western Ukraine, schools invited the Sisters to teach religion in the classrooms (this was illegal in the USSR since 1918). Many of the Sisters have been working in hospitals and other social services for years, but now they are able to wear their monastic habits. On 3 May 1990, Patriarch Pimen (Izviekov) of Moscow died. The Moscow synod appointed the Moscow Patriarchate's Exarch of Ukraine, Metropolitan Philaret (Denysenko), to be Administrator (Locum-Tenens) until the election of Pimen's successor. Pimen's funeral was held on 6 May; Pope John Paul II sent official condolences and a Vatican delegation attended the obsequies in Moscow. On 7 June 1990 the Local Council of the Moscow Patriarchate elected Metropolitan Alexis (Ridiger) of Leningrad to be the new Patriarch of Moscow. The special Apostolic Nuncio to the USSR, Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno, arrived in Moscow; President Michael Gorbachov received him on Monday, 14 May. After talks with various Soviet government officials, the nuncio came to L'viv on Friday, 18 May. Metropolitan Volodymyr and a delegation of Greek-Catholic clergy and laity welcomed the Apostolic Nuncio at the airport. The next day the Nuncio met with all ten Greek-Catholic hierarchs at Transfiguration Church, and extended an invitation from Pope John Paul II to come to Rome for a meeting with the Pope to begin on 25 June. Archbishop Colasuonno made a very positive impression, and the hierarchs felt both pleased and reassured. On Sunday, 19 May, Metropolitan Volodymyr and Archbishop Colasuonno presided at Pontifical Divine Liturgy in Transfiguration Church; Bishop Basil (Losten) of Stamford, 175

whom Patriarch Myroslav-lvan had recently appointed special envoy to Ukraine, was the main celebrant. Archbishop Colasuonno addressed the 15,000 faithful who attended, expressing his admiration for their joyous fervour and their steadfastness. 245 Pope John Paul II invited all the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishops of the world to come for this historic meeting on 25-26 June. Metropolitan Volodymyr, Bishop Sophronius of IvanoFrankivsk, Bishop Julian of Peremyshl' (meaning in practice the larger part of the Eparchy of Peremyshl' which is located in Soviet Ukraine; Kyr Julian is also Major Superior of the Studites), coadjutor-Bishop Paul of Ivano-Frankivsk, auxiliary Bishop Philemon of L'viv, auxiliary Bishop Michael (Sabryha) of L'viv, auxiliary Bishop John (Margitych) of MukachevoUzhhorod and auxiliary Bishop Ireneus (Bilyk) of IvanoFrankivsk arrived in Rome on Wednesday, 20 June. At a solemn Divine Liturgy that evening in the historic Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (which has served as the representation of the Metropolitan of Kiev-Halych and All Rus' in Rome since 1639) Metropolitan Volodymyr called on all the clergy, monastics, and faithful to pray for the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon the deliberations which would follow over the next few days. Bishop John (Semedi) of Mukachevo-Uzhhorod and his other auxiliary Bishop Joseph arrived two days later; they had been delayed in Hungary. Meanwhile all the Ukrainian GreekCatholic bishops from the rest of the world were also arriving in Rome. On Sunday, 24 June, Patriarch Myroslav-lvan, Metropolitan Volodymyr, and twenty-seven other hierarchs served Divine Liturgy in Rome's Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom (Saint Sophia) it was the largest gathering of Greek-Catholic hierarchs in history. At the
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patriarch's invitation, Metropolitan Volodymyr preached the s e r m o n , stressing the spiritual inheritance of Metropolitan A n d r e w and his work in ecumenism, the perseverance of the Church in Ukraine, the mission of that Church, and the necessity of the Patriarchate of Kiev-Halych and all Rus' in communion with Rome. Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno, Extraordinary Apostolic Nuncio to the Soviet Union, was the guest of honour for this celebration. During the festive luncheon after the Divine Liturgy, Archbishop Colasuonno addressed the hierarchs and guests, expressing his joy that they had been able to come to Rome, and assuring them of the ongoing support of the Holy See. After luncheon, the hierarchs went to the crypt of the Cathedral and sang a brief requiem over the mortal remains of the late Patriarch Joseph (Cardinal Slipyj), who asked in his Spiritual Testament that he should eventually be buried in Ukraine, either in Saint George's Cathedral in L'viv or in the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom (Saint Sophia) in Kiev. The meetings with the Pope lasted longer than had been anticipated, with discussions on a variety of topics including the hierarchical structure of the Church in the USSR, moral problems in the USSR (there are numerous marriage cases which are very confusing), formation of clergy, ecumenism and the role of the Greek-Catholic Church in the work of Christian unity, and a wide range of pastoral questions. The hierarchs from Ukraine urgently raised the matter of the canonical recognition of the Greek-Catholic Patriarchate of Kiev-Halych and All Rus', and Pope John Paul II assured them that he would see to this as soon as the legal situation in Ukraine made it feasible. A brief formal session of the Greek-Catholic Synod of Bishops met at the Pope's invitation it was the first session of the full synod since 1932. The only purpose was to record the restoration of normal relations between the hierarchs in Ukraine and the hierarchs in the emigration, and to obtain the 177

Keston News Service, No. 351, 31 May 1990, p. 7.

endorsement of the hierarchs in the emigration for the fourteen points adopted by the Synod in L'viv on 17 March 1990 the full Synod endorsed all these fourteen points unanimously 246 Metropolitan Volodymyr gave numerous interviews to the many journalists based in Rome, and also met with his own Redemptorist superiors and several offices of the Roman Curia. He remained in Rome for several days after the Synod, and had a lengthy private audience with Pope John Paul II on 11 July 1990, before returning to Ukraine. By the summer, about 1,400 church edifices were in the possession of the Greek-Catholic Church (one-third of the churches held by the Greek-Catholics in 1939). The outstanding issues of Saint George's Cathedral in L'viv and Holy Cross Cathedral in Uzhhorod appeared to be delaying many parishes who wished to return to the Greek-Catholic Church but were still fearful. The question of Saint George's Cathedral remained unresolved. The central government in Moscow referred the Moscow Patriarchate's appeal to the government of the Ukrainian SSR, which in turn referred it to the Regional Council of the L'viv Region. This body reconfirmed the decision of the L'viv City Council that the Cathedral must be returned to the Greek-Catholics. The City Council assigned a vacant church and residence for Moscow Patriarchate use. No services had been held in Saint George's Cathedral since January, but nevertheless the Moscow Patriarchate Bishop Andrei (Horak) was unwilling to withdraw gracefully. The City Council gave Bishop Andrei until 4 August to leave the premises, 247 and then extended the deadline once more to 11 August. Bishop Andrei did not comply and would not even permit the City Council access to the Cathedral for the purpose of making an inventory of the contents.
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On Sunday, 12 August 1990, the land for a new GreekCatholic Church in L'viv on Artema Street was to be blessed. There was a large procession of clergy and faithful to the building site, the ground was blessed, and the clergy went home. The faithful, however, did not disperse. Exasperated by the seemingly endless delay, about 30,000 people marched to Saint George's Cathedral. They did not enter the building at first, but held some popular paraliturgical devotions in the courtyard and "proclaimed" that the Cathedral was now once m ore Greek-Catholic. Someone had the presence of mind to send for Metropolitan Volodymyr, who came at once and addressed the crowd, urging them to disperse quietly and do nothing to profane the shrine. Most people went home, but that evening a small group of faithful managed to get in to the Cathedral and refused to depart. Bishop Andrei attempted to have the police evict them, but the police said that the Cathedral was the responsibility of the City Council. On Monday morning the City Council took advantage of this situation to send the inventory commission. On Tuesday, 14 August, the City Council for the third time ruled that the Cathedral should be assigned to the Greek-Catholics. This time it was effective. Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow sent telegrams to Metropolitan Volodymyr, to the City Council, and to the Regional Council, urging that there should be no Catholic service in the Cathedral, and stating that such a Catholic service would damage ecumenical relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Vatican and provoke trouble in L'viv. Nobody paid any attention, and preparations went forward. On Sunday, 19 August the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (according to the Julian Calendar observed by the Greek-Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches) the Greek-

Keston News Service, No. 354, 12 July 1990, pp . 3-5; 16-19 .

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Keston News Service, No. 356, 9 August 1990, p. 2.

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Catholics at last returned to Saint George's Cathedral Ther were two celebrations of Pontifical Divine Liturgy i n t h Church of the Transfiguration, with the traditional blessing of the fruit (a thanksgiving for harvest). Then Metropolitan Volodymyr with four bishops, 18 priests, and many deacons monks and nuns led more than 300,000 faithful in a solemn' procession to the Cathedral. It was the largest religious service e in the history of L'viv. Ukrainian young people in national dress greeted the Metropolitan at the archway of the Cathedral, offering the tradi tional bread and salt. His Beatitude ascended the Cathedral steps, paused for a final moment of silent prayer, and then knocked solemnly with his pastoral staff upon the closed doors which slowly swung open to admit the hierarchy, the clergy' the Cathedral choir, and as many of the faithful who could en' ter; loud-speakers carried the service to the huge crowd outside During the Divine Liturgy, sung by the Cathedral Choir, a message was read from Patriarch Myroslav-lvan, and a recording ^ P l a y e d of Metropolitan Andrew (Sheptytsky) preaching a Metropolitan Volodymyr chose this occasion to begin the publication of his official journal God is With us In the next few days, the L'viv Theological Seminary reopened although still without a building (classes were being held in the church edifices). The L'viv Seminary had over three hundred students, and the Ivano-Frankivsk Seminary had a similar number; seventy-four seminarians were studying in Mukachevo. Parishes in Eastern Ukraine and Belarus began to join the Greek-Catholic Church. Communities formed in such diverse cities as Kharkiv, Odessa, and Dnipropetrovsk, and in Kiev a

large pontifical service was held in July 1990 to bless the ground for the construction of a new Greek-Catholic church. The Greek-Catholic Church has been illegal in Belarus since 1839. But the Greek-Catholic heritage has not been forgotten. On 12 November 1989 a solemn Eucharist was offered to mark the feast of Saint Josaphat; this became the occasion for Belarusyns who were minded to revive their Greek-Catholic Church to come together. On 2 February 1990 the GreekCatholics in Homel' applied for registration for their parish the government refused, with all the usual pretexts, but the community has not been put off and under the new political conditions they are likely to succeed. On 13 February 1990 a Belarusyn Greek-Catholic youth organization was formed in Minsk, the capital city. Greek-Catholic parishes now function at Minsk, Homel', Mahil'ou and Haradno, despite a desperate lack of clergy. The Apostolic Visitor for Belarusyn Greek-Catholics in the emigration, Mitred Archpriest Alexander Nadson, is based in London, England; he visited Belarus in March 1990. Members of the Greek-Catholic youth organization welcomed Father Alexander at the railroad station; he heard confessions, served Divine Liturgy at the cemetery Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, gave lectures on the history and tradition of the Greek-Catholic Church, and baptized numerous children and adults. Father Alexander met with the newly-enthroned Roman Catholic Apostolic Administrator in Belarus, Bishop Thaddeus Kondrusievich, and with government officials. Father Alexander also had a long meeting with the executive of the Greek-Catholic youth organization, and gave them an interview which appeared in the first issue of their magazine Unia. Bureaucratic problems delayed publication of the magazine until 6 August 1990 - eventually 10,000 copies were printed in Lithuania and brought to Minsk just in time for Father Alexander's second visit. The morning of 6 August Father Alexander served Divine Liturgy, and that evening the Greek181

The entire sequence of events surrounding the return of Saint ueorge s Cathedral is described in Keston News Service No 357 30 August 1990, pp. 2-3. '

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Catholic youth organization held a public meeting, both to wel come Father Alexander and to celebrate the publication of their magazine. Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sterniuk) expressed his joy at the rebirth of the Greek-Catholic Church in Belarus with a telegram of greeting which Ihar Mikhno read aloud to the assembly. Belarusyn television showed both the Divine Liturgy and the meeting, and favourable reports appeared in the Belarusyn press. 249 There are also Greek-Catholic communities in Kazakhstan and other areas of the Soviet far east, where deportations brought significant numbers of clergy and faithful, but detailed information is not yet available.

Uma, 1, 1990, Minsk, vydan'nie Bielaruskae Unijatskae Moladzi; Chyrvonaja Zmiena, Minsk, 1-4 August 1990; Znamja Yunosti, Minsk, 2 August 1990; Chyrvonaja Zmiena, Minsk, 9 August 1990; Literatura i Mastatstua, Minsk, 10, VIII, 1990; Svaboda, Minsk, No. 9-10, August 1990, Homel'skaja Prauda, Homel', 9 August 1990; Holos Radziny, Minsk, 23 August 1990; Nasha Slova, Minsk, August 1990. With thanks to Father Alexander Nadson.