Ukraine Catholic Leader Hopes For Breakthrough Papal Trip

VATICAN, Apr. 30, 01 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, the leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, believes that the June visit to his country by Pope John Paul II will bring positive results.

Cardinal Husar, whose Major Archdiocese of Lviv is the center of the Byzantine-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church, hopes that the Pontiff will meet with Orthodox Patriarch Filaret of Kiev during his visit. Patriarch Filaret is the most prominent among the Orthodox leaders independent of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In an interview with the Italian daily Avvenire, Cardinal Husar said that optimism about the Pope's visit has been fueled by the publication of a message from the Pontiff to another Orthodox leader, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev-the leader among the Orthodox prelates recognized by Moscow. The Pope's message was well received in Ukraine, Cardinal Husar said, "because John Paul II affirmed that this visit would be made in a climate of friendship and dialogue."

Despite opposition to the papal trip among the Orthodox affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Catholic leader continued, "the majority of Orthodox are disposed to dialogue, and will not slam the door in the Pope's face." The Pope's diplomatic letter, he said, would help to prepare the ground for a productive ecumenical exchange.

If ecumenical progress continues, Cardinal Husar added, it would be possible to envision "full communion" among the Christians of Ukraine in the relatively near future. The crucial difficulty, he allowed, remains the office of the papacy. Orthodox believers do not dispute the primacy of the Pope, but they have questions about the way in which that ministry is conducted. And as the Ukrainian Catholic prelate argued, "We Byzantine-rite Catholics also have been, in the course of our history, the victims of that exercise."

Cardinal Husar observed that Pope John Paul II has called for renewed discussion on the way the Petrine ministry is carried out. This topic, he noted, would furnish one of the key themes of discussion for the May consistory of the College of Cardinals.

Catholic World News Service - Vatican Update
30. april 2001