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Vatican May Acknowledge Rusyns Ethnic Group, but not Nationality

12.12.2006, [16:53] // Violation of rights //

Uzhhorod– Prof. Paul Robert Magocsi, head of the World Congress of Rusyns, met with Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the U.S. The archbishop said that the Vatican might acknowledge the Rusyns as an ethnic group but not as a separate nationality. The Rusyns live in southwestern Ukraine’s Transcarpathia Region, and also parts of Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. zik.com.ua posted the news on 1 December 2006.

“During the meeting, the discussion, on the whole, centered on the policy regarding Rusyns which, in particular, the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo in Ukraine is conducting,” said Magocsi. The eparchy “officially encourages the use of the state language [Ukrainian] to the detriment of the use of Old Church Slavonic and the conversational Rusyn language. As a result of this, the actions of the Mukachevo bishop make the policy of the Vatican very similar to the policy of the former Soviet Union.”

The members of the delegation also said they are disturbed at the policy of gradually introducing the Ukrainian language during Liturgies in the Mukachevo Eparchy. The delegates said they were surprised that a Roman Catholic, Bishop Milan Sasik, was appointed apostolic administrator of the eparchy. So, said the delegates, this eparchy, located in the Transcarpathia Region, the territory of which is home to many faithful whose native language is Rusyn, now has an administrator, an ethnic Slovak, who is not fluent in this language.

Source:

• http://www.zik.com.ua/index.php?news_id=63019

• http://www.rusynmedia.org/News/2006/rimc051206.html