print this pageThe Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches of Ukraine
Written by Msgr. Dr. Iwan Dacko- Responsible for the External Relations of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
Ukraine is one of the few countries in the world where there is a major presence of two Catholic Churches sui iuris, in which the Roman Catholic Church is the less numerous of the two. Although in various countries of the world where there is a presence of Eastern Catholics in a mainly Roman Catholic society, the size of the Eastern Church and its hierarchy in those countries is considered to be relatively too small, perhaps with some exception in Canada and the USA, to have any practical significance in the public affairs of the Catholic Church.
According to recent statistical data from Ukraine, there are about 5 million Greek Catholics with 14 bishops, 7 eparchies, one exarchate, 2300 priests, over 500 male religious, around 800 nuns and 5 seminaries. The Roman Catholics have approximately 800,000 faithful, 9 bishops, four dioceses and one administration, 160 diocesan priests, 180 religious priests, 300 nuns and three seminaries.
The Greek Catholics draw their specific ecclesial identity from the Baptism of Kyivan Rus' (988) and from the confirmation of their communion with the See of Rome and the entire Catholic Church in 1595/96 (Union of Brest). Along with the Orthodox they are considered one of the traditional Churches of Ukraine. Although the Union of Brest was concluded by the metropolitan and bishops outside Western Ukraine, due to the fact that the Greek Catholic Church was brutally suppressed and liquidated by the tsars in the times of imperial Russia, it survived only in Western Ukraine. There, after the end of Soviet persecution, it predominates again; but it also has a presence in other regions as a result of population movements in Soviet times.
In the past, Roman Catholicism was invariably perceived as a strictly foreign, usually Polish, phenomenon, although Hungarian and German Roman Catholics were and still are to be found in Ukraine. This fact derived from Polish political domination (part of the Polish Kingdom in XIV-XVIII centuries) and the interwar years of the twentieth century (1918-1939), when the confessional divide between Ukrainians and Poles coincided with the national division. It is only in the last decade that the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine has begun to open itself to the adoption of a Ukrainian identity.
Both Catholic Churches were persecuted during the Soviet period with the sole difference that the Greek Catholic Church was completely banned and forcibly incorporated into the Russian Orthodox Church, whereas the Roman Catholic Church was allowed to retain a minimal public presence. This factor was important in the revival of the Church in the period 1989 to 1999 because only the Greek Catholic Church had to start its public life again practically from scratch and by disentangling itself from the Russian Orthodox Church; this was made all the more complex by the rebirth of the various Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.
What unites the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches is their common faith and their communion with the Holy Father and the entire universal Catholic Church.
Contacts between the hierarchies of these two Catholic Churches have always existed. They were courteous but due to tensions between Poles and Ukrainians they were mainly formal in nature and never really cordial. Historically, this is to be explained by the fact that Greek Catholics looked on Roman Catholics as privileged occupiers, whereas the latter, perhaps subconsciously, looked down on the Greek Catholics with an air of superiority based on the Western idea of praestantia ritus latini.
The relationship between the two Churches has started to improve, and this process should continue, especially when the younger generation of Catholics in Ukraine, less burdened by the old historical prejudices, takes over the leadership of these Churches.
The Greek Catholics are coming to realize that they should firmly adhere to their orthodox catholicity - two concepts that do not contradict, but complement each another - and that they have no need to feel they are inferior Catholics just because they are not Latin Rite. Many Roman Catholics in Ukraine are coming to realize that being Roman Catholic is not synonymous with being Polish. As a result there is a real movement underway to an indigenous Roman Catholic Church - a novum in Ukrainian history. This in turn means that Churches in Ukraine will have to re-examine their relationship to one another in the light of this development.
Present situation
The Ukrainian government looks on the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches as two distinct entities. The Greek Catholics are considered the traditional Church of Western Ukraine which contributed consistently to the development not only of the spiritual life, but also to the national identity and culture of Ukraine. Personalities of the Greek Catholic Church such as Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and Cardinal Josyf Slipiy have become symbolic figures for the whole of Ukraine. The Ukrainian intelligentsia would like to see a rapprochement between the Greek Catholic and the Orthodox Churches of Ukraine. Many people even go so far as to speak of a union of the traditional Churches of Ukraine, but truly ecumenical positions, concepts and clear ideas about the identity of such a unified Church have still to be worked out.
The Roman Catholics are not included in this unified view of the Church in Ukraine for the simple reason that they are not, as yet, considered Ukrainian. Never has there been a situation when these two Churches have been considered to be a "single Catholic Church"in the public mind. One may not like such a situation, but it is a fact.
Greek Catholics need to be encouraged to work on social, charitable, educational projects with Roman Catholics, whereas the latter need to remember that catholicity means universality, and thus that Greek Catholics are just as Catholic as they are. When working alongside Greek Catholics, the Roman Catholics need to do it in such a way that the Greek Catholics do not feel treated like an appendage to the Universal Catholic Church, and all the more so in Ukraine where they are the larger local Church.
How can the West help?
It is very important that the Western Church does not impose its views or dictates on Ukraine simply because the West is more affluent and powerful. Even though it may feel more affinity for Roman Catholics in Ukraine, thanks to a common liturgical and spiritual tradition, it should be careful not to turn this into a bias against the Greek Catholic Church just because it is less understood to the Western mentality.
In the area of projects Western organizations need to be careful not to offend the Greek Catholic Church through insensitivity to its oriental identity. Impositions in this area will only serve to make the local Church feel humiliated and even blackmailed.
Having said all this, the following aspects should be carefully considered:
1. Each Church has to live its own life as a Ecclesia sui iuris within the fold of the universal Catholic Church. The Roman Catholics have their Codex Iuris Canonici just as the Greek Catholics have their Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium. The Greek Catholics have their Synod of Bishops just as the Roman Catholic Bishops have their Bishops' Conference. These entities should work separately and each is responsible for its particular faithful. No-one has yet worked out how these two systems of Canon Law can function in relation to one another when the task at hand is creating an episcopal body for both Churches in a particular country. Such a body should be created in such a way that its decisions would not be prejudicial to the rights of each Church sui iuris.
2. In order to give witness to the unity and diversity of the universal Catholic Church, the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic hierarchies in Ukraine have been getting together at least twice a year since religious freedom was restored after Communism. They discuss common matters, such as the exchange of pastoral experience, defense of human life, social and charitable projects, catechetical and educational programs, and even a common stand of the Church towards such issues as peace, social justice and human rights. Even joint pastoral letters of the Greek and Roman Catholic hierarchies are foreseen in the future. Such working together will certainly grow and it should be fostered by all parties concerned with ecumenism and the welfare of the Church. As mentioned above, it remains to be seen if and how such informal joint meetings of the two hierarchies can be turned into a more formal body such as an Assembly of Bishops of two different Churches sui iuris.
3. Regarding general Catholic initiatives and projects, as everywhere in the world, the majority rule should apply in organizations and bodies set up jointly for both Churches. Setting up such bodies today with the proviso that the minority Church have the major say will not help bring the two Churches closer together. In Ukraine, there is a new situation for both Churches and both have to learn and accept a new role: the Greek Catholics have to learn the majority role, the Roman Catholics a minority role. Above all, in the ecumenical perspective, care must be taken not to demonstrate that communion with Rome means, in effect, subordination to Latin rule.
