GREEK-CATHOLIC UKRAINIAN CHURCH: BONDED TO ROME

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2006 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter sent by the Pope to Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, major archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians, to mark "the sad events to which the cathedral of St. George at Leopoli was witness, in March of sixty years ago."

  In his Letter, dated February 22, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Benedict XVI recalls how in the cathedral in March 1946, "a group of prelates meeting in a pseudo-synod which took upon itself the right to represent the Church, made a serious attack against ecclesial unity. Violence against those who remained faithful to the Bishop of Rome intensified, giving rise to further suffering and forcing the Church to descend once again to the catacombs."

  Despite these trials, the Holy Father goes on, thanks to God "the Greek-Catholic Church did not disappear but continued to bear her own witness to the unity, sanctity catholicity and apostolicity of the Church of Christ."

  The Pope expresses the hope that this anniversary may stimulate the Greek-Catholic community in Ukraine "to strengthen its intimate and committed bond with Peter's Successor," and emphasizes how, "in the patient daily journey of faith, in communion with the successors of the Apostles, ... the Ukrainian Catholic community has managed to uphold Sacred Tradition in its integrity."

  He continues: "In order for this precious heritage of 'Paradosis' to survive in all its richness, it is important to guarantee the presence of the two great currents of the one Tradition - the Latin current and the Orthodox current - each with the multiplicity of historical characteristics that the Ukraine has been able to express."

  Benedict XVI closes his Letter with reference to "the dual mission entrusted to the Greek-Catholic Church in full communion with Peter. On the one hand, her task is to ensure the oriental tradition remains visible in the Catholic Church, on the other, to favor the encounter of the traditions, bearing witness not only to their compatibility, but also to their profound unity in diversity."
BXVI-LETTER/UNITY PETER'S SUCCESSOR/HUSAR            VIS 20060316 (350)