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Western Ukraine’s Councils to Ask Vatican to Grant Patriarchal Status to Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
09-07-2008
08.07.2008 - Lviv-Prague-Kyiv-Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Lviv Regional Councils prepared a joint address to Pope Benedict XVI requesting to grant the status of patriarchate to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC). Today, deputies of the three regional councils will vote for this address. Radio Svoboda had a chance to get acquainted with the draft document.
The joint draft address stresses that the Church of Byzantine Rite has the second largest number of faithful in Ukraine and is prepared to be recognized as a patriarchal church.
According to the authors of the document, granting of such status would be crucial for the future activity of UGCC and the development of Ukrainian statehood.
Four years ago 150 Ukrainian deputies forwarded a similar address to the previous pope, John Paul II.
The status of a patriarchate would mean independent administrative government.
However, many experts fear the patriarchate of UGCC would lead to a split between the UGCC and Orthodox Churches. On the other hand, some believe that the UGCC patriarchate can promote unification of the Orthodox and Greek Catholics in Ukraine and will lead to the establishment of a single Church in Ukraine.
A religious expert, Andrii Yurash, noted that the problem is not intra-Catholic but inter-confessional.
"The question of granting UGCC the patriarchal status will provoke resistance by the Russian Orthodox Church, which claims a unique role and domination in Ukraine," said the expert.
