VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The election of a new archbishop for a Church with 6.5 million Catholics could hold the key to determining if or when Pope Benedict XVI may meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
Vatican officials are watching the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s leadership with keen interest, but without the degree of anxiety for its ecumenical implications that would have been present even five years ago.
Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Church, Feb. 10, about two weeks before his 78th birthday. The cardinal, who as major archbishop of the Eastern Catholic Church could have served for life, is almost blind and asked to retire.
The 45 Ukrainian Catholic bishops from Ukraine and other countries of Europe, North and South America and Australia must meet within two months to elect a successor; Pope Benedict must assent to the election before the new major archbishop can be installed.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern Churches in full communion with Rome, and it is pivotal in ecumenical relations.
When Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Catholic Church was forcibly united with the Russian Orthodox Church and became illegal. During 45 years under communist rule, the push for Ukrainian independence and the demand for religious freedom for Ukrainian Catholics often went in hand in hand. The growth of
Ukrainian democracy after independence in 1991 occurred at the same time as the Church was being rebuilt.
However, the return of religious freedom meant that many Christians who were worshipping as Orthodox decided to return to their Ukrainian Catholic roots. Church properties that had been confiscated by the government or given by the government to the Orthodox were reclaimed by Ukrainian Catholics in situations that occasionally included violence between Catholics and Orthodox.
Basically, since 1991, the Russian Orthodox, previously a prime force in the search for Catholic-Orthodox unity, have said they could not agree to a meeting between the Russian Orthodox patriarch and the Pope until Catholic-Orthodox tensions in Ukraine are resolved.
A Vatican official knowledgeable about the ecumenical situation in Ukraine told Catholic News Service Feb. 10 that Catholic-Orthodox relations are “rather calm right now, but every once in a while the tensions return.”
The real concern is about tensions between different Orthodox churches in Ukraine and how that is being influenced by the year-old government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a member of the Orthodox Church in communion with the Russian Orthodox’s Moscow patriarchate and a politician who has promised to strengthen political and economic ties with Russia.
His support for the Orthodox in communion with Moscow appears to have fueled long-standing tensions between Orthodox loyal to Moscow and those who support an independent Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
“Problems within the Orthodox Church have visibly worsened with the political change” of Yanukovych’s election and may prove more dangerous than Catholic-Orthodox tensions, the Vatican official said. “It hurts more when brothers fight than when cousins do,” he said.
In the past couple of years, he said, ecumenically “there have been no important steps forward, but no big steps backward either.”
Observers credit Cardinal Husar’s leadership with being a key reason Catholic-Orthodox tensions have not worsened, and they also praise his efforts to champion the rights and dignity of the Eastern Catholic Churches in an overwhelmingly Latin-rite Church.
Father Borys Gudziak, rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, said Yanukovych’s policies have plunged Ukraine into a “political crisis,” and many people were shocked that Cardinal Husar, “the most respected moral authority in the country,” would resign at such a time.
“From an ecclesial point of view, it seems the government is moving toward a state-church model like in Russia,” Father Gudziak said. Yanukovych has met repeatedly with the leaders of the Orthodox in union with Moscow, and the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church has “expressed concern over the government-assisted transfer of three parishes from its jurisdiction” to the jurisdiction of the church united with Moscow, he said.
From his point of view, he said, the Ukrainian Catholic Church needs to elect a successor to Cardinal Husar who can articulate compelling reasons for faith, keep Ukrainian Catholics united and promote Christian unity, “a topic to which Cardinal Husar has devoted some of his most eloquent statements and his best energy.”
“Thanks to Cardinal Husar’s work, there is good harmony in the synod and among religious orders, and the number of priests has returned to its pre-World War II total: 2,500 priests just in Ukraine,” he said.
Father Gudziak said that no matter who the synod chooses to lead the Church, the leader will face the challenge of getting all Ukrainian Catholics to take personal responsibility for the Church and its mission rather than giving in to “a syndrome of ‘waiting for Moses,’ of shirking responsibility and thinking, Let the big guy do it.”
Benjamin Wiker: Benedict XVI: Doctor of the Church
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No matter if it is the Latin rite, the Orthodox rite, or Anglican, whatever—- the church structure needs to be Bible-honoring, and universal Church Tradition honoring, and ALL clergymen need to be allowed to be married. Priest, bishop, or pope. Give women back their rightful role in the church, as priest’s wives.
I know a woman from the Middle East, that is “Catholic”, but Orthodox Catholic, in union with Rome. Their priests are allowed to marry, but not their bishops. When she was 16, her parish priest, a man in his 30’s, made a pass at her (he tried to kiss her). She thwarted his attempt and he did not push it. BUT… the man is still in the clergy today- he’s a BISHOP. I wonder how many children he’s fathered, and how many women he tried to kiss.
My friend, now in older-middle age, to this day has never told her mother what happened. Her mother thinks THEIR priests/bishops are wonderful, and it’s only in the USA that we have problems with homosexual priests that like teenage boys and other men, or those that go after children.
By the way, it is NOT consensual, when a clergyman has a sexual relationship with a woman. It is an abuse of POWER. End the failed practice of mandatory celibacy now. Pope Benedict could stop the madness, with a stroke of a pen, and tomorrow, if he wanted. MANDATED Celibacy is only a “gift” to the Vatican. All clergymen should be able to make the decison to marry at any time in his life.
NO WOMEN PRIESTS - the role for women is as a priest’s wife. The Bible prohibits women from leading men in a pastoral role, and there are no women priests in Universal Church Tradition.
In response to “Cradle Catholic”
I am sorry to state that you call yourself Cradle Catholic but your Post proves you are not. We genuine Cradle Catholics know that the Roman Catholic Church will not interfere with the three Vows Her Priests must take - VOLUNTARILY - and honour. That is Chastity, Poverty and Obedience. Any Priest who cannot fulfill the requirements of these Vows is free to ask and get dispensation from the Priesthood and lead the life of an ordinary Catholic Faithful. So, your statement that Pope Benedict XVI can abolish the Vow of Celibacy with “a stroke of a pen” confirms your erroneous understanding of what the Sacrament of Holy Orders in the Roman Catholic Church is all about. The man who enters the Seminary, knows from day one that to become a Priest, he will be required to offer to God his most valued Gift as a sign of his Love for God and his readiness to serve His Sheep with humility and fidelity - Chastity. Yes, they are very human, and many fall by the wayside. But that is no reason that the Church must abolish this Vow because some priests fail to keep their Promise to God. Why don’t you ask the world to accept murder as acceptable because since Cain and Abel people are murdered every day?
Please be advised, we love our One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church the way it is. And we daily pray. “I believe You are one God in Three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that your Son became Man and died for us and that He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe these AND ALL THAT THE TRUTHS WHICH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHES BECAUSE YOU HAVE REVEALED THEM, YOU WHO CAN NEITHER DECEIVE NOR BE DECEIVED. Amen”. Anyone who calls themselves Catholics and cannot pray faithfully this Act of Faith and mean it genuinely, need not pass themselves as true Catholics. There are many Christians Denominations there to join and feel comfortable instead of harping on the Catholic Church to change to accommodate selfish human desires. Christ said “He who hears you hears Me and He Who sent Me. And he who does not hear you, does not hear Me or the One Who sent Me”. In the Catholic Church God does not permit that we pick and choose what to accept and reject what we find unsuitable to our selfish desires. He does not expect us to ask Him to change His Law to accommodate our wishes which are contrary to His Law. God does not contradict Himself. He has given us One Truth and One Faith and we have one Redeemer, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life and He promised to remain in His Church until the End of Time.
From the above Article we are all praying that Christ’s Prayer during the Last Supper that His Church will become One and He and the Father are One will very soon be fulfilled and the Church in Russia will be in Full Communion with the Holy See and Heaven will rejoice.
+ Laudetur Iesus Christus +
Mary42- Look into whether or not a diocesan parish priest makes any “vow” at all. I’m sure a man must merely make a “promise” to his bishop, and to the succeeding bishops after him, to remain CELIBATE, and he promises OBEDIENCE to him. Not Chastity and Not Poverty for diocesan priests.
No vow is made to God. Only the vowed religious ordered priests VOW those 3 states to God - chastity, poverty and obedience. And since many do not keep the vow of chastity, ordered priests ought to rethink that too. Because that IS a vow to God. It’s not as easily overlooked by God, as it is their superiors, and their ‘priest=brothers’.
Did you know last Fall, a parish in Delaware was being made to pay a survivor of clergy abuse over $3million of a $33 million settlement, because they looked the other way, allowing their former pastor to sexually abuse male teens?
Also - it is known that some orders (Jesuit communities I know of) pay for their vowed priests to have either vascectamies or to get performance enhancing drugs, like Viagra. They’d not need either, if they truly remained chaste. Celibate only means they promise not to marry a woman. With 22-45% of priests having homosexual inclinations, they’d not likely want to marry anyway. With the high numbers of homosexual clergy, whether they are sexually active or not, it ought to be a RED FLAG to us.
News that a very high level cleric from Philadelphia was in trouble for his allowing parish priests to be shuffled around (and it happened in 1999- the early 2000’s), means we pew people may have to start coughing up a LOT of money, to the point of more diocese and parishes going bankrupt, just for the privilege of keeping our heads in the sand.
I am cradle Catholic- 12 years Catholic education. I never left the Church - and am off to 5PM Mass right now. But I am tired of the dismissive attitudes coming from our church leaders, that just apologize, over and over - and of my fellow pew people, that prefer to look the other way.
It’s time to do “church” God’s way - and the specifics for qualifications are right there in Scipture - the New Testament. Writings by Paul. It’s very clear. It’s all right there.
My God!!!! Your response displays your total misunderstanding about the Sacrament of the Holy Orders. I suggest you rush to your Catholic Bookshop and purchase a copy of the Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Canon Law for the Laity. ALL ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS - WHETHER OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS OR DIOCESAN - MAKE THEIR VOWS ON THE DAY OF ORDINATION TO GOD AND GOD ALONE. FIRST, TO REMAIN OBEDIENT TO THE VICAR OF CHRIST ON EARTH, THE HOLY FATHER, THROUGH HIS ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS, THEY OFFER TO GOD THEIR CHASTITY AS A HOLY GIFT THROUGH WHICH GOD GRANTS THEM MANY GRACES AND LASTLY, TO EMBRACE POVERTY IN ORDER TO SERVE CHRIST’S SHEEP AND THE CHURCH WITH HONESTY AND FIDELITY. Have you never attended an Ordination Ceremony and read the Mass’s Readings the the Vows the Priests take? Obviously not. You may have been educated in Catholic Schools but your response reveals your very scanty understanding of the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, especially the Sacrament of the Holy Orders. On the other hand, and by the Grace of God, I am a faithful Cradle Catholic, brought up from infancy and educated by Catholic Nuns and at 72 years, I have ensured I understand my Catholic Faith fairly well. And when in doubt, I know where to get sound advice - my Spiritual Director. The Vow of Celibacy for those who take this Sacrament, is made to God alone. Not to the ordaining Bishops, not to the Leaders of their Congregations and, certainly not to the Holy Father or the Magisterium of the Church. Therefore, the Holy Father cannot wake up one day and - and as you stated - “with a stroke of a pen” - abolish the Vow of Celibacy for the Roman Catholic Priests.
The Catholic Church is well aware that the fidelity to the Catholic Faith in most Western countries, and especially America, is almost dead. Catholics there have decided to embrace the secular beliefs and culture and have erroneously believed you can pick and choose what to believe and what to reject as a Catholic. More so, to reject especially anything that one considers an infringement to their so-called “human right” and the doctrine of pro-choice which is so popular. Yet, as I responded to you, God has given us His Law and Precepts, which are proclaimed, taught, respected and protected by His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. And, yes, He has given us free will to chose to obey Him or disobey Him. As the Holy Father stated the other day, in the Western World there is almost a total eclipse of God in people’s lives, hence the spiritual turmoil in so many souls.
Here is the First Reading of To-day’s Mass Reading: “Eccl.15:15-20. If you wish, you can keep the commandments; to behave faithfully is within your power. He has set fire and water before you; put out your hand to whichever you prefer. Man has life and death before him; whichever man likes better will be given him. For vast is the Wisdom of the Lord. He is almighty and all-seeing. His eyes are on those who fear Him, He notes every action of man. He never commanded anyone to be godless; He has given no one permission to sin.”
This Word of God of to-day’s 1st Reading on the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is BINDING TO ALL. The Priests and the Laity. If the Priests- being very human like all of us sinners - fail to fulfill the Will of God and remain faithful to the Vows they have made to Him, the Church has no power to act contrary to God’s Word and disregard the Vow made to God VOLUNTARILY by the Priest on the day of his Ordination. God is Truth and He cannot contradict Himself. Likewise, His Church proclaims and protects this Truth and She cannot contradict God or Her own Magisterium Authority. It is pointless to try to force the Catholic Church to change He teachings to accommodate what is certainly contrary to God’s Will. And be very sure this SHALL NEVER HAPPEN. Those who find the Catholic Church Teachings difficult to respect, uphold and obey, have the liberty to join any Christian Denomination which allows that which they are objecting to in the Catholic Church. In the end, very soon, each one of us will stand before the Seat of Judgement of God and here, God has the Final Word and the Casting Vote to decide one’s eternal Destiny.
Thank you all for sharing your insight about this provocative issue of the church. I read both sides and I feel very educated. I do personally agree that the three vows are truly essential in the fulfillment of the male priesthood. Chastity, obedience and poverty. This is taught and must be obeyed as instructed by the vicar of Christ on earth. No “stroke” of a pen can change that because God’s morality and absolute truth is unchangeable. For those who are complaining that women should he priests; you’re wrong. It you have a problem with the male priesthood, go complain to God the Father because he chose his word, Verbo Incarnato——to be born in this world as a MAN. Iesu Christus. Homo est! Cased closed.
Fortunately, perseverance is a gift of the Holy Spirit! How are we to tire to safeguarding the apostolic truth? A great deal of misconceptions harbored by most “cradle Catholics” stem from either the lack of proper, authoritative research, openness to the Spirit within the Magisterium of the Church and plain humility to learn. So off most go regurgitating misinformation from mainstream media etc. The Holy Father’s vision of new evangelization is alive and well. Keep up the work of Truth. Thanks, Mary!
With respect, I ask all of you to please ask your parish priests two questions:
1) Did you take a VOW of chastity, poverty & obedience to God, OR did you make a PROMISE to your bishop to remain celibate & to obey him & his successors?
2) If the Vatican says women cannot be ordained priests because Jesus chose only men as His apostles, what right did the Magesterium have to make celibacy mandatory, when Jesus chose a married St. Peter to lead His church? Jesus could have chosen all single men. He did not.
My point is the rule keeping women away from becoming priests should apply to the call for priests to be married.
What does any of this have to do with Patriarch Lubomyr, his successor, and Catholic-Orthodox relations?
And at ordination of Roman priests, the candidate makes a promise to observe a celibate lifestyle and to be obedient to his superior—whether that be his bishop or religious superior. Celebacy is not intrinsic to the priesthood, as most of the Eastern Churches ordain many men. And don’t forget there are a handful of married Roman Catholic priests as well.
The vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience are made by many religious when becoming full members of their orders. Most male religious orders also ordain their men; at that time they make the two promises mentioned above.
But again, what does this have to do with the article? Everyone please pray for Patriarch Lubomyr and for the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church which will soon elect the new Patriarch of Kyiv and Halych.
Thank you, Lloyd and Tyrone Beiron. I am humbled by your comments. “Cradle Catholic” is still misunderstanding and in error about the Catholic Church’s Doctrine of Ordaining only men and why the Vow of Celibacy is Mandatory. First, the fact that St. Peter our First Pope, was married was qualified by Christ Himself when He stated that those who are chosen by The Holy Spirit to Serve God, are set apart and granted Special Grace of Celibacy. By the way, how come God sent His Son to be born from the Tribe of Judah and not the Levites who were the Priests of the Old Testament? It was because He came to INSTITUTE THE NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT THROUGH HIS SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS by His Death and Resurrection, thereby fulfilling the Old Testament Law and the Prophets. That is why He is a Priest for ever in the order of Melchizedek of Old. In the same way, though St. Peter was married, those who would be chosen by the Holy Spirit to serve as Priests to offer the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, the New and Everlasting Covenant would be Celibate just as Christ - the God-man was.
On the question of women ordination, I have explained this elsewhere so often, and yet some like “Cradle Catholic” do not want to accept the naked truth. In every culture all over the world, whenever it became necessary for the Community to offer Sacrifice to God the Creator, for whatever reason, THE SACRIFICE WAS ALWAYS OFFERED BY MEN. WOMEN NEVER, EVER OFFERED SACRIFICE TO THE CREATOR. In the Catholic Church the Holy Mass is the Enactment of the Sacrifice Jesus Christ offered to His Father on the Cross at Calvary. Therefore, the Catholic Church only ordains men since no woman can offer Sacrifice to God the Father and our Creator.
I would like to go back to the “Cradle Catholic”‘s comment about the Jesuit Priests. Her comments are so saddening and so very wrong. After working in the Corporate World for over 42 years, my final 10 years’ of employment was in the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. The Priests in the University, as Lecturers and Students, were my companions and I can state with confidence, without any fear of contradiction, that the Jesuits are the most educated and highly gifted Theologians and Experts in other Scientific Fields as well the Catholic Church has. In the recently published African Bible, no less that six (6) of the Authors of that Bible were our Lecturers at the University. During our many discourses, personal encounters and the Inter-Disciplinary Sessions which they conducted about the Catholic Faith, their teachings about the Catholic Church Doctrine, the Scriptures and the Magisterium were unmatched and highly inspiring and very authoritative. With regard to their moral probity, I can vouch for their fidelity to their Vow of Celibacy because I closely interacted with them on a daily basis, both on the Campus and outside at recreational and Inter-Universities’ outings. I learned so much from them about the Catholic Church Magisterium and the various Disciplines that the Students of Theology pursue in Catholic Universities. So the “Cradle Catholic”‘s accusations against them is very unfortunate. I am not denying there are Priests who fall by the wayside, oh no. As I stated earlier, we are all human and sinners - each and everyone of us - and when one becomes a Priest, their human inborn moral weaknesses do not evaporate upon Ordination. They have to work hard with God’s Grace to remain faithful to the Faith and their Calling in order for the Holy Spirit to strengthen them to live their Evangelical Vows with fidelity. But to condemn the entire Sacerdonal Fraternity of the Catholic Church wholesale is most unfair and unfortunate.
Finally, “Cradle Catholic”, bearing in mind that I was brought up by very staunch Catholic Parents, and my father, being a Teacher and a respected Lay Church Leader, taught his children about the Catholic Faith and the read the Scriptures to us even before we could read by ourselves, I very, very humbly admit that, by God’s Grace, my understanding of the Faith of our Fathers is well grounded. One need to remember that The Holy Mother of God has stated during her various apparitions that when one scandalizes her Son’s Priests, one is scandalizing Christ Himself. She, therefore advised us thus: “If you see the Anointed and the Consecrated of my Son in error, talk to that person if you are in a position to do that. But where you cannot, my Son commands you to pray for that person. But never, ever scandalize His Priests”. That is the duty of every faithful Catholic. Always pray for our Priests because Satan specifically targets them knowing very well if the Priesthood is demoralized, the whole People of God shall suffer because without Priests, we have no Sacraments and our salvation is imperiled.
Cardinal Husar was a great leader for the Ukrainian Church. It will be difficult to replace him but the Ukrainian church will elect a new primate who will be capable of completing Husar’s work. How does an article on Husar and Orthodox relationships become a cause for a rant for or against celibacy? Jesus chose married priests. Enough said.
1) I do not support the ordination of women to the priesthood- it is against Scripture and it was never done in universal Church Tradition. I took flack from a New Age-type nun that wants women’s ordination, because I pinned her about her basis for asking for it, and she came up dry. Have I made myself clear that I do NOT support, nor have I ever supported women priests? Married priests is one issue. Women priests is another issue. They are separate and distinct.
2) Regarding the sex habits of clergy. I was at a memorial for a Franciscan priest that fathered a (now adult) child. When the child was a boy, and his father had a heart attack, the child and his mother went to the hospital to see him, and THREE OTHER WOMEN showed up, all were having a sexual relationship with this priest. The priest, about 25 years older than the mother of his child, never married her. And he carried his secret with him, to his grave. The priest presiding at the funeral said of the deceased in his eulogy, “He was so wonderful!! We need MORE priests like him!!”
That was because the dead priest was known for social justice issues. But the priest giving the eulogy KNEW from Day One about the dead priest’s son, and of the other women.
So good for you, Mary42, if you know lots of priests that are wonderful. To me, ALL are suspect. They can be great in some ways, and not so good in others. I wonder where resides the soul of the dead Franciscan that fathered a child, and that bedded 4 women at the same time.
It’s time to do it according to the Bible - allow priests, bishops and popes to marry. Mary42, in the Bible there are specific qualifications for MEN in ordained ministry. It’s time to heed them.
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