Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Lubomyr Husar resigns – Implications for the relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church
The Pope today accepted the resignation request made by the Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, due to health reasons.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church is by far the largest of the Byzantine churches in communion with the Holy See. Brutally persecuted during the Stalin era, it was forcibly fused with the Russian Orthodox Church.
With the subsequent fall of Communism, the Ukrainian Catholics asserted their independence from the Russian Orthodox Church, and although the relationship has been relatively peaceable in recent times, it has always been somewhat fraught.
This resignation may potentially have profound implications for the Catholic – Orthodox relationship which – as I have noted in the past – has been edging ever closer towards a full communion agreement.
The Ukrainian Catholic – Russian Orthodox ‘problem’ has been a stumbling block preventing a potentially historic meeting between the Pope and Patriarch Kirill.
Patriarch Kirill and Pope Benedict are both theologically conservative and both ecumenically minded. Some of this ecumenical impetus is undoubtedly driven by the ‘threat’ of European secularisation. There is a recognition by both parties that a united and cooperating Church would be far more effective in the ‘re-evangelisation’ of Europe.
Anyway, that’s a very brief synopsis.
The Catholic Register has an informative piece on the Ukrainian Archbishop’s resignation and the potential implications for the Catholic – Orthodox relationship:
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.
Tags: Church Life