Small but busy

Follows the interview with the president of the Ukrainian Bishops’ Conference, Msgr. Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, Archbishop of Lviv, on the history and presence of the Catholic Church of Latin rite in Ukraine. On latest issue of SIR Europe (click here) is published the interview with the Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, on the spiritual aspects of societal challenges in Ukraine. Both interviews are by Danka Jaceckova (SIR Europe – Bratislava) who met with two representatives of the Catholic Churches in Ukraine during the plenary assembly of the CCEE (Council of European Bishops’ Conferences) held in St. Gallen (Switzerland) from 27 to 30.Your Excellence, how could you describe the development of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in Ukraine over the past years and the main challenges associated with its life?"I’m very happy that the main theme of this year’s plenary in St. Gallen were social and moral challenges of the Church and the world. Having an experience of this panorama of the Church in Europe allows us to evaluate it and then continue to apply it to our pastoral life. Our Church is young, it has existed for only 22 years. During communism it was only in a very reduced, symbolical form. When my predecessor arrived in 1991, there were only 13 priests and very few churches open. Also, the social problems were heavy. This transfer to liberty ruined the structures, a lot of people remained unemployed especially in agricultural sector. Many factories weren’t able to adapt to new conditions and were closed. Not to mention moral destruction of our nation. There was a problem of alcoholism, high divorce rate, abortions. Morale of the people was very low. Still, there is a lot to do. The Catholic Church tries to get closer to people, to give them help, hope, comfort, to form their faith and strengthen it".In this sense, what are your programs for the forthcoming Year of Faith? "This year we celebrated the 600th anniversary of transfer of the metropolitan seat from Halych to Lviv. Cardinal Comastri paid a visit to us in June, cardinal Tomko was a special papal envoy for the main celebrations of the event in September. Now, there’s a new invitation for our Church – the Year of Faith. We want to get closer to our faithful, to teach them catechism of the Church, because our people don’t know basic things about Christianity. There are groups of Catholic faithful with whom we need to work, to help them grow in their faith through biblical encounters, eucharistic celebrations, adorations. To draw their attention to charitable love which is very closely connected to faith. We try to establish Caritas centers, points of humanitarian aid, through various religious communities, diocesan offices of Caritas and centers of hospitality".What fruits has II Vatican Council brought to life of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine?"We can say that we’re about 50 years behind. Because of the iron curtain that held us isolated for decades, the Church practically didn’t exist and the values of II Vatican Council were not known. After 1991, we have slowly started to introduce the teachings of the Council. We try to get closer to the lay people, involve them in the life of the Church, in its activities. And we notice with pleasure that the nation is very open towards these efforts and accepts the initiatives very well".How can you describe the relations with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) and Orthodox Churches in your country?"The RCC doesn’t have problems with the Orthodox. They, like us, are a minority, facing similar situation. They are not accepted by local governments, also here in Lviv. They also have problems to get lands for building of churches, many of their churches had been taken. We have very good relations with Orthodox Church, we often meet personally and discuss our situation. Many desires regarding our relations with UGCC are yet to be fulfilled. In the1990s, when the Holy Father renewed the structures of the Catholic Church and the UGCC, the Greek-Catholic church took possession of many of our churches on her own initiative and this has raised concerns. The Greek-Catholic church is very strong and has great communities: there are between 2000 and 3000 faithful in every parish, and our parishes count no more than two hundred people. For us it is much harder to build a church, find the land, especially if the local government is not willing to give it to us. We often have to celebrate Mass in the chapels of cemeteries. We are confident that the new archbishop of Lviv and the Major Archbishop will be able to deal with this situation and bring about the restitution of at least three churches. We look forward with faith and hope to this solution as we build good relations with the UGCC. Since 2007, our ad limina visit to the Vatican, we had joint meetings of our episcopal conferences twice a year, as well as spiritual exercises lived together. We want to show that we belong to one Church. Our faithful want it, because they live together, go to school, work side by side. We all have this strong desire".