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tive and peaceful negotiations, I am writing this open letter and I ask all Archbishops and Bishops in Ukraine to advise me of their thoughts on this matter. Lwiw, December 30, 1941 ANDREJSHEPTYCKYJ METROPOLITAN OF HALYCHYNA ARCHBISHOP OF LWIW MY LETTER to the faithful Ukrainian Orthodox Intelligentsia. I need to add a few more comments to my letter to the Orthodox Church hierarchy. I wish to do this in my let ter to the greatly esteemed representatives of Ukrainian sciences, literature, the arts and to the social activists of Ukraine, and of course to the enlightened and patriotic clergy, since I am conviced that the intelligentsia of all religious denominations has an important voice in reli gious matters and is always the leader of society. I am sorry that I am forced to say a few things about myself. I do not write this letter for personal gain. I do this as the duty of a patriotic Ukrainian. It is obvious that a Greek-Catholic cannot become the Metropolitan of Kiev. I have neither the desire for this distinction, nor the physical capability to be in Kiev. Shortly, I will begin the 78th year of my life. Due to a chronic joint disease which I had since I was 12 years old, I am now bound to a chair, unable to stand on my feet. This disease has robbed me of the use of my right arm. Several times a year I totally lose the use of my left arm. The Metropolitan of Kiev must be chosen from among the Orthodox Church hierarchy. If his Church was united with the Universal Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, all of us Greek-Catholics would be subject to him, and I would be happy to be subject to his superior authority. However, a total unification of Greek-Catholics and Ukrainain Orthodox is a matter for the distant future. It could possibly become a reality only after lengthy mut ual efforts at coming together. These two factors are indispensable in achieving national solidarity. This reconciliation may one day lead to unification, but first mutual differences and hatred which make a Ukrainian an enemy to another Ukrainian, must be removed. Those of us who desire unification, and those who don’t, let us all work on reconciliation. Let us all work toward recon ciliation which will benefit the whole Ukrainian nation. I wish to emphasize that unification with the Uni versal Ukrainian Church does not mean the abandon ment of any customs, traditions or rites of the Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Church would not lose any of the values which have made it a precious national mon ument, but would gain additional value from the interac tion with all faithful Christians in the world. We are called Greek-Catholics, yet to ourselves and in our prayers we call ourselves orthodox. We are confident, that we have not lost a single tradition from the past, nor have we lost any from the time of Wolodymyr the Great. These traditions came to us through Greek patri archs John Wekka and Josephat, as well as through our Metropolitans Isydor and Hryhoryj. This direction was stronger and purer than the one which led to our broth ers by the Dnipro River through Nikon and the Moscow Synod. Compare our orthodoxy, our churches, our clergy, our religious and national existence and let us talk. You will be convinced that my assertions are true. Notwithstanding minor changes, and taking into con sideration the ruling of the Apostolic See, we went back in of our liturgy to the traditions of our Church of the XVI and XVII century, which were the traditions of the Kiev Church. Brothers, gentlemen — in you, the secular Ukrain ian intelligentsia, our precious tradition is purer than that which Ukraine received from schools designed by the Petersburg Synod. Your orthodoxy is nearer to the orthodoxy of the great masses of Ukrainian people. Your orthodoxy is closer to ours. In it there is a lot of understanding of the needs of a suffering, captive nation. Even though your efforts toward unification will not be totally realized, it will nevertheless bring great benefits to the Ukrainian people, and foster national unity. Every patriotic Ukrainian should work toward that end. In the spirit of divesting myself of my patriotic duty, I write this letter. Lwiw, March 3, 1942 ANDREJSHEPTYCKYJ METROPOLITAN OF HALYCHYNA ARCHBISHOP OF LVIV CELEBRATING THE MILLENNIUM IN KIEV. On Sunday, June 5, 1988, at the foot of the memorial to St. Volodymyr in Kiev, a celebration took place to honor a thousand years of Christianity in Ukraine. The event, which was attended by hundreds of people, was organ ized by the Ukrainian Cultural Club. While church bells announced the occasion, people placed candles at the foot of the memorial. A liturgy began. Shortly, Mr. Sikorsky, a representative from the State committee on religious matters informed the pres ident of the Club, Mr. Naboka, that participants will be liable for criminal prosecution if the liturgy and the can dle ritual is not stopped. He stated that it is illegal to worship God publicly. The Mass was stopped. Oles’ Shevchenko read a short text of the message from Pope Paul II to the members of the IV Synod of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Many individuals read religious poems by Hry- horij Skovoroda, Taras Shevchenko and Pavlo Tyczyna. Noted Ukrainian artist Evhen Sverstiuk read his essay celebrating the Millennium. (The full text of his speech is in Ukrainian in this issue of OUR LIFE.)
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