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A New Wave of Persecution? L ately we have been receiv ing rep o rts of a new wave of persecutions of all religious life inside th e Soviet Union. R eli gious persecutions by to ta lita r ian regim es, especially by th e com m unists, are n othin g new. A fte r all, C hristian ity , w ith its ideas of th e dignity of all h u m an life, of a free will, of life beyond death, co n stitutes a fu n dam ental th re a t to m aterialism on w hich th ese regim es are founded. U krainian O rthodox C hurch was one of th e firs t vic tim s of th e Bolshevic regim e. Some religious life survived, b u t only in th e “approved” form and under Moscow directives. Even th is stifled religious need was sub ject to periods of “h a rd ” line. C hurches w ere closed down, or subjected to enorm ous ta x ra te s. U krainian Catholic C hurch fe lt th e full im pact of m ethodic “liquidation” as soon as th e Bol. shevics overran W estern U k raine. W e all rem em ber our dis m ay a t th e rep o rts of th e im posed un ity w ith R ussian Or- Ivan F ran k o: Septem ber 13, 1889 thodox Church, of a rre sts of C hurch leaders, of th e resistan ce of th e laity. W e also rem em ber rep o rts th a t th e fa ith w as liv ing, “underground” clergy w ere serving th e faith fu l. The rep o rts reaching us now are once m ore becom ing very disquieting. C hurches w ere destroyed, w hich should have been preserved if only as h isto ric m onum ents. The last convent of O rthodox nuns w as dissolved, a num ber of p riests arrested . A nd finally we hear of th e a rre s t of A rc h bishop W asyl W elychkovsky. One m ay w onder w hy such a fu ry w as directed a g a in st th e U krainian C hurch. The answ er to th is question lies in th e h is toric role of th is C hurch. One has only to read th ro u g h th e pages of U krainian h isto ry to realize th a t th e C hurch, even in th e d ark est periods, w hen th e U krainian nobility, th e educated class, becam e eith er Polonized or R ussified, and th e U krainian n a tion was reduced to p easan t m asses, th e C hurch stood by th e people. It w as th e C hurch, espe- T ran slated b y P erciv a l Cundy cialy th e autonom ous U krainian C atholic C hurch, th a t aided a n a tional re b irth since th e m iddle of th e n in eteenth century. F inally th e existence of a U krainian C hurch serves as a con stan t rem inder fo r U k rain ians, th a t th ey are a sep arate en tity. R eligious trad itio n s have become such a p a rt of U krainian national h eritag e th a t we cannot easily distinguish w here fo lk lore ends and religious ritu a l b e gins. Church ritu als ru n th ro u g h o u t U k rain ian lite ra tu re, C hurch events are bound inseparably w ith U k rainian h is to ry . Thus, d estroying U k rain ian C hurch, R ussians, actin g u n der th e guise of C om m unists, are attem p tin g to destroy th e very existence of a U krainian nation. T his y ear is th e th o u san d th an niv ersary of th e death of St. Olha, th e firs t C hristian ru ler of U kraine. It w as under h er rule, or soon afterw ard s th a t U kraine em erged as unified peo ple, as a national pow er of a firs t ra te . F o r th e p a st thousand years a U krainian C h ristian n a tion existed, and th e p ast fifty years of persecution could not destroy it. N eith er will th is new wave, w hich is really n o th ing new, engulf it. E ven if all o u t w ard appearances of U krainian C hurch cease to ex ist in U kraine ideas do not disappear th a t ea s ily. Also, we are here. F ree to con tin ue our trad itio n s, to preserve th em to keep th em alive in our children. W e are also here to call to th e atten tio n of th e en tire world th e inju stices p erp etrated ag ain st th e U krainian C hurch, our C hurch. E ven if th e world now tu rn s a deaf ear to our p ro te st, one day it will h ear. You cannot fool all th e people all th e tim e, even if you are R ussian C om m unist. M. Z. O dezyn skyj TH E DOVE A h erm it was sittin g by his lonely cell, F a r off in th e h e a rt of th e prim eval woods W here n oth in g w as h eard b u t th e voices of birds, A nd m u rm u rs of leaves as th e w ind rose and fell. W hen lo! he looked upw ards and th e re he descried H is sole frien d retu rn in g , a snowy w hite dove, W hich he fo r tw o days has been m ourning as lost. T he dove flu ttere d down, cam e to re s t a t his feet. T he h erm it a t once to th e dove, w here it stood, E xtended his hand to caress it, b u t stopped — Those snowy w hite w ings bore th e stain of m en’s blood. T he holy m an gasped: “W h at a curse on all th in g s T h ere m u st be, w hen even a dove doth re tu rn F rom dwellings of m en w ith th e ir blood on its w ing s!” 26 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — ТРАВЕНЬ, 1969 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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