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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 ques-tions arising from the restoration of legal status to the Greek-

Catholic 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 Lubachiv-

sky) addressed the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity on 12February 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 thetask of nominating two representatives from inside Ukraine, butdid not accept his nomination of Msgr. Iwan Dacko.239

Instead, the Vatican named two representatives: ArchbishopMiroslav Marusyn (from the Roman Curia) and ArchbishopStephen Sulyk (the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Metropolitan ofPhiladelphia, USA). Patriarch Myroslav-lvan nominatedMetropolitan Volodymyr of L'viv, and Bishop Sophronius ofIvano-Frankivsk.

2 3 9 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 representa-

tives 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 asa 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 for90 minutes with Patriarch Myroslav-lvan on 4 MarchArchbishop Marusyn did not meet with Patriarch Myroslav-lvan, but received Msgr. Ivan Dacko for an extended discus-sion 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 Catholicparticipants in the M ixed 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

n 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 dele-

gates did not confer with the two Greek-Catholic hierarchs be-

fore the first session began at 10:00 AM.

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 per-

son of Archimandrite Nestor (introduced as a secretary), but

would not permit Metropolitan Volodymyr to add a Greek-

Catholic 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 dis-

cussion. 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 f or the Normalization

of Relations between the Orthodox and the Catholics of the

Eastern Rite (Greek-Catholics) in Western Ukraine" was re-

leased 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 Greek-Catholics;

2. the section about religious edifices in rural areaswhere 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 ur-ban religious edifices appeared to relegate to the distant futureissues which the Greek-Catholics held to be of urgent and

pressing importance (such as the Cathedrals in L'viv andUzhhorod);

4. the appeal to the faithful not to interfere in political

problems is without precedent, and unacceptable in a societycommitted 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 twoGreek-Catholic bishops) greeted the Commission at L'viv air-

port; Mr Ivan Gel' (of the Committee for the Defence of theUkrainian Greek-Catholic Church) welcomed the Commissionwith the traditional bread and salt. The Catholic delegates trav-elled by motorcade from the airport to the Church of theTransfiguration; thousands of faithful lined the route to wel-come them.

Despite the triumphant welcome, Metropolitan Volodymyrand Bishop Sophronius became increasingly distressed by the

behavior of Archbishops Marusyn and Sulyk. The Vatican del-egates permitted serious irregularities in the scheduled visits to

various localities: " . . . any informed observer could have seenthe enormity of what was occurring. The Orthodox team wereable to telephone ahead to acquire intelligence on whether therewere 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 owncause.

168

"The most distressing example occurred at Ivano-Frankivsk, 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 wasill. People complained to Fr Dacko that the commission haddone more for Moscow than for the local people."

240

Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius accusedthe two Vatican delegates of supporting the Moscow Patriar-chate's attempt to take over functioning Greek-Catholic chur-ches in seven communities (Boryslav, Zolochiv, Nesteriv, My-kolayiv, Stryi, Yavoriv, and Mshana). The Moscow Patriar-chate representatives used the alleged work of the Commissionto convince local government authorities to prevent parishesfrom returning to the Greek-Catholic Church.

Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius at-tempted to raise the specific issue of Saint George's Cathedralin L'viv the Moscow Patriarchate representatives threatened

to walk out of the meeting if this matter was raised, whereuponArchbishop Marusyn ordered the Greek-Catholic delegates todrop the matter.

The newly-elected People's Deputies (members of parlia-ment) and other lay representatives wished to address the MixedCommission, but Archbishop Marusyn and Archbishop Sulykdid not agree (the two Vatican delegates have since asserted thatthe Greek-Catholic Church in the USSR is controlled by thelaity). Finally it was decided that the Vatican delegation (not theentire commission) would receive the People's Deputies onSunday afternoon, 11 March.

On Sunday morning, 11 March 1990, MetropolitanVolodymyr, Archbishop Marusyn, Archbishop Sulyk, Bishop

2 4 0 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.

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Sophronius, Bishop Julian, Bishop Philemon, and BishonMichael served Divine Liturgy at Transfiguration Church inL'viv. This was the first time that Kyr Michael appeared in

public as a bishop.24! ^ In

About 30,000 faithful attended. During this serviceArchbishop Marusyn exhorted the Greek-Catholics to "havefaith in the Holy See and its delegation. We understand the suf-ferings you have undergone and we have your concerns in ourhearts".

That afternoon Irene Kalynets, newly-elected People'sDeputy of the Ukrainian SSR, publicly expressed her dissatis-faction directly to Archbishops Marusyn and Sulyk. In addition

to her elected office, Ms. Kalynets is a leader of the Christianwomen's organization which had organized the Saint NicholasDay service for children in December 1988, and a former pris-oner of conscience. Other prominent people also expressed se-rious criticism of the Vatican delegation.

On Monday, 12 March, the Vatican representatives metwith the ten Greek-Catholic bishops. However, the Greek-Catholic participants assert that nothing of substance was dis-cussed during this meeting.

On Tuesday, 13 March, the Mixed Commission held aclosing session. After a final attempt to achieve a substantivediscussion, Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius

considered the work of the Commission so unsatisfactory thatthey had to withdraw, lest their presence should appear to ratifyany conclusions or documents which the commission might is-sue. Metropolitan Volodymyr and Bishop Sophronius pre-sented the fourteen points which the Greek-Catholic Church ac-

cepts as a basis for negotiations, and then the two hierarchs leftthe Commission.

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

170

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 re-

turn to Ukraine. No one saw them off at the airport.

Many people in Western Ukraine are Greek-Catholic, soissues 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 ap-

peal 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 dele-gates 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] repre-

sented 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;

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2. the underlying difficulty is the refusal of the Moscow

Patriarchate to recognize that the Greek-Catholics constitute aChurch, a canonical-juridical entity, rather than being a disor-ganized agglomerate of individuals;

3. there is no point in holding any further meetings ofsuch a commission until the fundamental questions are agreedupon;

4. the Greek-Catholic Church is morally and legally enti-

tled to the full restoration of all ecclesiastical properties confis-

cated 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 Synodlocated in L'viv;

6. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church will be raised tothe Patriarchal dignity "at the appropriate earliest date".

The complete text of the declaration and the fourteen points should be read closely. Metropolitan Volodymyr read outthe entire document over L'viv television on Wednesday, 21March; the next day the L'viv newspaper Lenins'ka Molod'published the complete text.242

As Canon Michael Bourdeaux commented, after the expe-rience with the Vatican delegates to the Mixed Commission "It

may prove almost as difficult to restore the confidence ofUkrainian Catholics in the Vatican bureaucracy as to establishgood relations between them and the Russian OrthodoxChurch."243

24 2 Most of the information in this chapter comes f rom a report byMsgr. Iwan Dacko and Marko Tomashek given to "Aid to the Church in

Need" on 26 March 1990, and Canon Michael Bourdeaux, "UkrainianImbroglio" in the Tablet. 12 May 1990, p. 579.

24 3

Bourdeaux, ibid., and Keston News Service, No. 346, 22 March1990, pp. 5-7.

172

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 deci-

sion, and refused to hand over the premises on the appointed

date.244

The Cathedral Choir withdrew in a body, declaring them-

selves 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 Greek-

Catholic 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

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

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of the Moscow Patriarchate withdrew from these schools andenrolled as candidates for the Greek-Catholic priesthood.

There are occasional rumours that some bishops remain insecret (besides Metropolitan Volodymyr and the nine other hier-archs who are known), but no one appears able to confirm thisreport. The older hierarchs and clergy still remember the terribleyears when there were no bishops at all, and very few priests,and one can appreciate the caution which might lead the hierar-chy to keep some bishops in reserve, so to speak, so that such adevastation may not occur again.

During the spring and summer of 1990, many visitorswere able to come to Ukraine from the West. Just after the col-lapse 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 NeedCongress at the end of March; this report reached the personalattention of Pope John Paul II.

Under the auspices of the Patriarchal Chancery in Rome,Ms. Sonya Hlutkowska of the Ukrainian Catholic Press Officeled a group of Western journalists to the USSR during Holy

Week and Easter. The group met with government officials andChurch leaders in Moscow, Kiev, and L'viv. In Moscow, theCouncil for Religious Affairs asserted that the Vatican does notrecognize the Greek-Catholic Bishops in the USSR, and thatthe failure to list these bishops in the Annuario Pontificio (thedirectory of the Catholic hierarchy published by the Holy Seeevery year) proves this. In Kiev, Nicholas Kolesnyk of theCouncil for Religious Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR tried to tell

the journalists that no one had deprived the Greek-Catholics oftheir church edifices in 1946 the Greek-CatholicS had relin-quished their buildings voluntarily because they preferred tohold open-air services! The journalists laughed in his face.

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In L'viv Metropolitan Volodymyr gave his first full-scalepress conference and the journalists also met with public offi-cials who expressed their support for the Church. The L'vivCouncil of People's Deputies adopted a resolution apologizingto the Greek-Catholic Church for the decades of persecution.

The Church continued to gather strength in the changingSoviet society. In Western Ukraine, schools invited the Sistersto teach religion in the classrooms (this was illegal in the USSRsince 1918). Many of the Sisters have been working in hospi-tals and other social services for years, but now they are able towear their monastic habits.

On 3 May 1990, Patriarch Pimen (Izviekov) of Moscowdied. The Moscow synod appointed the Moscow Patriarchate'sExarch of Ukraine, Metropolitan Philaret (Denysenko), to be

Administrator (Locum-Tenens) until the election of Pimen'ssuccessor. Pimen's funeral was held on 6 May; Pope John PaulII sent official condolences and a Vatican delegation attendedthe obsequies in Moscow. On 7 June 1990 the Local Council ofthe Moscow Patriarchate elected Metropolitan Alexis (Ridiger)of Leningrad to be the new Patriarch of Moscow.

The special Apostolic Nuncio to the USSR, ArchbishopFrancesco Colasuonno, arrived in Moscow; President Michael

Gorbachov received him on Monday, 14 May. After talks withvarious Soviet government officials, the nuncio came to L'vivon Friday, 18 May. Metropolitan Volodymyr and a delegationof Greek-Catholic clergy and laity welcomed the ApostolicNuncio at the airport.

The next day the Nuncio met with all ten Greek-Catholichierarchs at Transfiguration Church, and extended an invitationfrom Pope John Paul II to come to Rome for a meeting with thePope to begin on 25 June. Archbishop Colasuonno made a verypositive impression, and the hierarchs felt both pleased and re-assured. On Sunday, 19 May, Metropolitan Volodymyr andArchbishop Colasuonno presided at Pontifical Divine Liturgy inTransfiguration Church; Bishop Basil (Losten) of Stamford,

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whom Patriarch Myroslav-lvan had recently appointed specialenvoy to Ukraine, was the main celebrant. ArchbishopColasuonno addressed the 15,000 faithful who attended, ex-

pressing his admiration for their joyous fervour and their stead-

fastness.245

Pope John Paul II invited all the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishops of the world to come for this historic meeting on 25-26June.

Metropolitan Volodymyr, Bishop Sophronius of Ivano-Frankivsk, Bishop Julian of Peremyshl' (meaning in practice

the larger part of the Eparchy of Peremyshl' which is located inSoviet Ukraine; Kyr Julian is also Major Superior of theStudites), coadjutor-Bishop Paul of Ivano-Frankivsk, auxiliaryBishop Philemon of L'viv, auxiliary Bishop Michael (Sabryha)of L'viv, auxiliary Bishop John (Margitych) of Mukachevo-

Uzhhorod and auxiliary Bishop Ireneus (Bilyk) of Ivano-Frankivsk arrived in Rome on Wednesday, 20 June. At asolemn Divine Liturgy that evening in the historic Church ofSaints Sergius and Bacchus (which has served as the represen-tation 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 HolySpirit upon the deliberations which would follow over the nextfew 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 Greek-

Catholic 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

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

patriarch's invitation, Metropolitan Volodymyr preached these rmon , stressing the spiritual inheritance of MetropolitanAndrew and his work in ecumenism, the perseverance of the

Church in Ukraine, the mission of that Church, and the neces-

sity of the Patriarchate of Kiev-Halych and all Rus' in commu-

nion with Rome. Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno,

Extraordinary Apostolic Nuncio to the Soviet Union, was the

guest of honour for this celebration. During the festive lun-

cheon after the Divine Liturgy, Archbishop Colasuonno ad-

dressed the hierarchs and guests, expressing his joy that they

had been able to come to Rome, and assuring them of the ongo-

ing support of the Holy See.

After luncheon, the hierarchs went to the crypt of theCathedral 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 prob-

lems 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

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endorsement ofthe hierarchs in the emigration forthe fourteenpoints adopted by the Synod in L'viv on 17 March 1990 thefull Synod endorsed all these fourteen points unanimously

246

Metropolitan Volodymyr gave numerous interviews to themany journalists based in Rome, and also met with his ownRedemptorist superiors and several offices of the Roman Curia.He remained in Rome for several days after the Synod, and hada lengthy private audience with Pope John Paul II on 11 July1990, before returning to Ukraine.

By the summer, about 1,400 church edifices were in the possession of the Greek-Catholic Church (one-third of thechurches held by the Greek-Catholics in 1939). The outstand-

ing issues of Saint George's Cathedral in L'viv and Holy CrossCathedral in Uzhhorod appeared to be delaying many parisheswho wished to return to the Greek-Catholic Church but werestill fearful.

The question of Saint George's Cathedral remained unre-solved. The central government in Moscow referred theMoscow Patriarchate's appeal to the government of theUkrainian SSR, which in turn referred it to the RegionalCouncil of the L'viv Region. This body reconfirmed the deci-sion of the L'viv City Council that the Cathedral must be re-turned to the Greek-Catholics. The City Council assigned a va-

cant church and residence for Moscow Patriarchate use.

No services had been held in Saint George's Cathedralsince January, but nevertheless the Moscow PatriarchateBishop Andrei (Horak) was unwilling to withdraw gracefully.The City Council gave Bishop Andrei until 4 August to leavethe premises,

247and then extended the deadline once more

to 11 August. Bishop Andrei did not comply and would noteven permit the City Council access to the Cathedral for the

purpose of making an inventory of the contents.

246

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

178

On Sunday, 12 August 1990, the land for a new Greek-Catholic 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 wenthome. 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 atfirst, but held some popular paraliturgical devotions in thecourtyard and "proclaimed" that the Cathedral was now once

more Greek-Catholic. Someone had the presence of mind tosend for Metropolitan Volodymyr, who came at once and ad-dressed the crowd, urging them to disperse quietly and donothing to profane the shrine.

Most people went home, but that evening a small group offaithful managed to get in to the Cathedral and refused to de-part. Bishop Andrei attempted to have the police evict them, butthe police said that the Cathedral was the responsibility of theCity Council. On Monday morning the City Council took ad-vantage of this situation to send the inventory commission. OnTuesday, 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 toMetropolitan Volodymyr, to the City Council, and to theRegional Council, urging that there should be no Catholic ser-vice in the Cathedral, and stating that such a Catholic servicewould damage ecumenical relations between the MoscowPatriarchate 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 Transfi guration

of Our Lord (according to the Julian Calendar observed by the

Greek-Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches) the Greek-

247 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 thChurch of the Transfiguration, with the traditional blessing ofthe fruit (a thanksgiving for harvest). Then Metropolitan

Volodymyr with four bishops, 18 priests, and many deaconsmonks and nuns led more than 300,000 faithful in a solemn'

procession to the Cathedral. It was the largest religious servicein the history of L'viv. e

Ukrainian young people in national dress greeted the

Metropolitan at the archway of the Cathedral, of fering 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 mes-

sage 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 beginthe publication of his official journal God is With us In thenext few days, the L'viv Theological Seminary reopened al-though still without a building (classes were being held in the

church edifices). The L'viv Seminary had over three hundredstudents, and the Ivano-Frankivsk Seminary had a similar num-ber; seventy-four seminarians were studying in Mukachevo.

Parishes in Eastern Ukraine and Belarus began to join theGreek-Catholic Church. Communities formed in such diversecities as Kharkiv, Odessa, and Dnipropetrovsk, and in Kiev a

248The entire sequence of events surrounding the return of Saint

ueor ge s Cathedral is described in Keston News Service No 357 30August 1990, pp. 2-3. '

180

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 for-

gotten. 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 Greek-

Catholics 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 inMinsk, 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 inter-

view which appeared in the first issue of their magazine Unia.

Bureaucratic problems delayed publication of the maga-

zine until 6 August 1990 - eventually 10,000 copies were

printed in Lithuania and brought to Minsk just in time for F ather

Alexander's second visit. The morning of 6 August Father

Alexander served Divine Liturgy, and that evening the Greek-

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Catholic youth organization held a public meeting, both to welcome Father Alexander and to celebrate the publication of theirmagazine. Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sterniuk) expressed his

joy at the rebirth of the Greek-Catholic Church in Belarus witha telegram of greeting which Ihar Mikhno read aloud to the as-sembly. Belarusyn television showed both the Divine Liturgyand the meeting, and favourable reports appeared in the

Belarusyn press.24 9

There are also Greek-Catholic communities in Kazakhstanand other areas of the Soviet far east, where deportations

brought significant numbers of clergy and faithful, but detailedinformation is not yet available.

Uma, 1, 1990, Minsk, vydan'nie Bielaruskae UnijatskaeMoladzi; 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 thanksto Father Alexander Nadson.