UKRAINE
ROME — Calling a recent line from Pope Francis about fighting in eastern Ukraine reminiscent “of Soviet propaganda,” the head of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic church has urged a tougher line on Russian aggression in his country both from the pontiff and the international community.
Vatican correspondent February 23, 2015
Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said on Monday that a Feb. 4 statement from Francis, in which he called the conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists “fratricidal,” was “particularly painful for all the people in Ukraine.”
The pope’s words, he said, “reminded us of Soviet propaganda.”
The line rankled Ukrainians who see the violence on the Crimean peninsula not as a civil conflict, but an act of foreign aggression stirred up by Russia.
In the same spirit, Shevchuk voiced regret that Francis did not specifically point a finger at Russia in his Feb. 20 remarks to a group of visiting Ukrainian bishops, instead referring only to a “situation of grave conflict.”
“As sons, we always expect more from the Holy Father,” Shevchuk said, while adding that “we respect his freedom to use the words that will help him mediate in the peace process.”
Shevchuk’s remarks came at the conclusion of an ad limina visit by Ukraine’s bishops, a trip to Rome that Catholic prelates are required to make every five years. He said he discussed the situation in Ukraine with the pope, and believes Francis may soon deliver an important “action” to express his solidarity.
The roughly 6 million strong Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine is the largest of the 22 Eastern churches in communion with the pope.
In a Rome press conference, the Ukrainian prelate also begged the international community not to remain indifferent to the “undeclared and unexpected” war in his country, which he said is the result of what he called a foreign invasion.
More than 5,600 people are believed to have died in the fighting. A peace plan envisioning a ceasefire and pullback of heavy weapons was signed in mid-February, but violations reportedly continue.
“Indifference kills,” Shevchuk said on Monday.
“I ask you not to be indifferent, because what’s going on in Ukraine isn’t a local conflict,” he said. “We live in a globalized world. This war that is today being fought in Ukraine, will sooner or later affect every country.”
Shevchuk said that during the Feb. 16-21 visit, the Ukrainian bishops had encountered various members of the Vatican curia and the Secretary of State, but that the main objective was to share their “pains and hopes with our father, Pope Francis.”
According to Shevchuk, the bishops invited Pope Francis to visit Ukraine, saying it would be a “prophetic step.”
Shevchuk said Francis personally knows the impact a papal intervention can have in a conflict situation, referring to the role the Vatican played in the 1970s and 1980s in negotiating a peaceful settlement to a dispute between Argentina and Chile over the Beagle Islands, at a time when both nations were led by military regimes.
Shevchuk said that during their meeting the pope listened with a “paternal ear,” paying special attention to the bishops of Donetsk and Crimea. He wanted to know how their flock is experiencing the conflict, how the local Orthodox community understands it, and statistics about the displaced, wounded and deceased, Shevchuk said.
In the pope’s address to the bishops, Shevchuck said that his words, “I’m at your disposal, I’m at your service,” were the most important.
Having lived in Buenos Aires from 2009 to 2000 and developed a friendship with the future pope, Shevchuk described him as a “man of few words” but of “action.”
“I hope that in the near future we’ll be witnesses of an action from him,” he said. “He’s given us a few hints, such as saying that he’s at ‘our service’.”
Shevchuk said he international Catholic charity Caritas tends to more than 140,000 people a day, yet Shevchuk said “it’s a drop of water in the sea of human suffering.”
“I asked for the Holy Father and the Holy See to make an international appeal so that the Ukrainian people receive international humanitarian help,” Shevchuk told reporters.
In terms of what Francis might do, Shevchuk said the pontiff could appeal directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin because “even to Putin, the pope is a respected spiritual figure.”
That said, Shevchuk also insisted that Putin’s recent claims to be a defender of persecuted Christians in various parts of the world, especially the Middle East, ring hollow.
“I’m a son of the persecuted Church,” Shevchuk said. “I know about the KGB, the Russian Secret service, and how they used Christian values for political benefit. I don’t trust any state propaganda that’s willing to sacrifice thousands of its soldiers for a geopolitical cause.”
Shevchuk claimed that pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine are making life difficult for religious minorities.
“Our Muslim brothers and the Tartars of Crimea are running away because of persecution,” he said. “Our Jewish brothers are being forced to register and pay a fee, something I’ve been told the Nazis used to do.”
Shevchuk said the five Greek Catholic parishes in Crimea have been told they must renew their legal registration by March 1, and that so far, Moscow has rejected their paperwork three times.
“After [March 1], we’ll see,” Shevchuk said. “Our Church might be back to 1946, when our legal status was canceled.”
During much of the Soviet era, Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church was the largest illegal religious body in the world, and in percentage terms, no Church produced more martyrs under Soviet rule.
ROME — Calling a recent line from Pope Francis about fighting in eastern Ukraine reminiscent “of Soviet propaganda,” the head of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic church has urged a tougher line on Russian aggression in his country both from the pontiff and the international community.
Vatican correspondent February 23, 2015
Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said on Monday that a Feb. 4 statement from Francis, in which he called the conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists “fratricidal,” was “particularly painful for all the people in Ukraine.”
The pope’s words, he said, “reminded us of Soviet propaganda.”
The line rankled Ukrainians who see the violence on the Crimean peninsula not as a civil conflict, but an act of foreign aggression stirred up by Russia.
In the same spirit, Shevchuk voiced regret that Francis did not specifically point a finger at Russia in his Feb. 20 remarks to a group of visiting Ukrainian bishops, instead referring only to a “situation of grave conflict.”
“As sons, we always expect more from the Holy Father,” Shevchuk said, while adding that “we respect his freedom to use the words that will help him mediate in the peace process.”
Shevchuk’s remarks came at the conclusion of an ad limina visit by Ukraine’s bishops, a trip to Rome that Catholic prelates are required to make every five years. He said he discussed the situation in Ukraine with the pope, and believes Francis may soon deliver an important “action” to express his solidarity.
The roughly 6 million strong Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine is the largest of the 22 Eastern churches in communion with the pope.
In a Rome press conference, the Ukrainian prelate also begged the international community not to remain indifferent to the “undeclared and unexpected” war in his country, which he said is the result of what he called a foreign invasion.
More than 5,600 people are believed to have died in the fighting. A peace plan envisioning a ceasefire and pullback of heavy weapons was signed in mid-February, but violations reportedly continue.
“Indifference kills,” Shevchuk said on Monday.
“I ask you not to be indifferent, because what’s going on in Ukraine isn’t a local conflict,” he said. “We live in a globalized world. This war that is today being fought in Ukraine, will sooner or later affect every country.”
Shevchuk said that during the Feb. 16-21 visit, the Ukrainian bishops had encountered various members of the Vatican curia and the Secretary of State, but that the main objective was to share their “pains and hopes with our father, Pope Francis.”
According to Shevchuk, the bishops invited Pope Francis to visit Ukraine, saying it would be a “prophetic step.”
Shevchuk said Francis personally knows the impact a papal intervention can have in a conflict situation, referring to the role the Vatican played in the 1970s and 1980s in negotiating a peaceful settlement to a dispute between Argentina and Chile over the Beagle Islands, at a time when both nations were led by military regimes.
Shevchuk said that during their meeting the pope listened with a “paternal ear,” paying special attention to the bishops of Donetsk and Crimea. He wanted to know how their flock is experiencing the conflict, how the local Orthodox community understands it, and statistics about the displaced, wounded and deceased, Shevchuk said.
In the pope’s address to the bishops, Shevchuck said that his words, “I’m at your disposal, I’m at your service,” were the most important.
Having lived in Buenos Aires from 2009 to 2000 and developed a friendship with the future pope, Shevchuk described him as a “man of few words” but of “action.”
“I hope that in the near future we’ll be witnesses of an action from him,” he said. “He’s given us a few hints, such as saying that he’s at ‘our service’.”
Shevchuk said he international Catholic charity Caritas tends to more than 140,000 people a day, yet Shevchuk said “it’s a drop of water in the sea of human suffering.”
“I asked for the Holy Father and the Holy See to make an international appeal so that the Ukrainian people receive international humanitarian help,” Shevchuk told reporters.
In terms of what Francis might do, Shevchuk said the pontiff could appeal directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin because “even to Putin, the pope is a respected spiritual figure.”
That said, Shevchuk also insisted that Putin’s recent claims to be a defender of persecuted Christians in various parts of the world, especially the Middle East, ring hollow.
“I’m a son of the persecuted Church,” Shevchuk said. “I know about the KGB, the Russian Secret service, and how they used Christian values for political benefit. I don’t trust any state propaganda that’s willing to sacrifice thousands of its soldiers for a geopolitical cause.”
Shevchuk claimed that pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine are making life difficult for religious minorities.
“Our Muslim brothers and the Tartars of Crimea are running away because of persecution,” he said. “Our Jewish brothers are being forced to register and pay a fee, something I’ve been told the Nazis used to do.”
Shevchuk said the five Greek Catholic parishes in Crimea have been told they must renew their legal registration by March 1, and that so far, Moscow has rejected their paperwork three times.
“After [March 1], we’ll see,” Shevchuk said. “Our Church might be back to 1946, when our legal status was canceled.”
During much of the Soviet era, Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church was the largest illegal religious body in the world, and in percentage terms, no Church produced more martyrs under Soviet rule.
Resourse: Cruxnow
Oleksandr Kryvenko, † Roman Catholic, lawyer, journalist, human rights activist, blogger
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