Dear Friends,

As you know, our Bishop-Martyr, Blessed Paul Goydich was beatified by His Holiness the Pope in Rome yesterday.

I understand that the Bishop was a stigmatist during his time in a Soviet prison before his martyrdom.

Could anyone comment further on this?

Holy Hieromartyr Paul, pray unto God for us!

Hello, Alex!

Also beatified was the Redemptorist Fr Methodius (Dominik Trčka).

Picture (he looks the part of a bat'uška):
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_20011104_beat- trcka_photo.html

Biography in Slovak (fun if you've got a smattering of Russian like me): http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_20011104_beat-trc ka_sl.html

In Italian: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_20011104_beat-trc ka_it.html

Synopsis in English, from another group: "He was born in 1886 in Frydlant (present-day Czech Republic), professed as Redemptorist in Latin Rite, then volunteered after First World War for apostolate to Greek Catholics [note from Serge: there was an Orthodox movement among Rusyns at the time, encouraged in part by ROCOR's monastery and printing press at Ladomirovo - the journal Pravoslavnaja Rus' got started there], moved to Slovakia and learned the language and customs (Ruthenian?) and took the name of Methodius. After the Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia he was arrested during the night 13 April 1950. In 1952 put on trial, accused of collaboration with Bishop Gojdic, sentenced to 12 years. Around Christmas 1958 was heard singing a hymn and put in a punishment cell, where he developed pneumonia. When a prisoner-doctor asked for him to be taken to hospital, he was moved to an isolation cell instead. Died 23 March 1959, forgiving his enemies.'

Serge

http://oldworldrus.com

[ 11-05-2001: Message edited by: Serge ]

Dear Brother Serge,

Thank you very much for that information!

So we have two new Byzantine Rite Blesseds!!

And the fact that this comes from an Orthodox Brother, such as yourself, is also a cause for rejoicing!

If it wasn't for you, who would keep us informed about our new Byzantine saints?

Alex

Slava Isusu Christu! Glory to Jesus Christ!

To anyone, who is interested in bishop Pavel Gojdics life, an english biography is available at grkat.nfo.sk/eng/

A short Slovak biography is placed on grkat.nfo.sk too.

Hieromartyr Pavel Gojdic was the greatest personality of Slovak Byzantine Catholic (Greek Catholic) Church in the 20th century. For his kindness, caring and charitable relationship with the people he was described as "a man with a heart of gold". The has the fame of a saint already during his life. He refused to colaborate with communist regime that was going to destroy the Byzantine Catholic Church. Bishop Pavel was arrested (life sentence) and died after ten years of suffering in prison.

On November 17th holy rests of bishop Pavel will be transfered to a renovated chapel in the Cathedral of Presov with a great celebration.

For informations on Father Metod Trcka see trcka.nfo.sk - nice page, in different languages (English, Italian...), with photographs.

Blessed martyrs Pavel and Metod, pray for us sinners!


andreios
admin of grkat.nfo.sk

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: andreios ]

We are grateful that the archbishop of Pittsburgh iniciated the process of beatification.

During the communist period, it was not possible to iniciate this process from Slovakia. 1950 - 1968 the Byzantine Catholic Church was forbidden, in 1968 legalized, but until 1989 suffered strong persecution by the government. So that is why the archbishop of Pittsburgh iniciated the process of beatification.

Does anyone know, in which year? I am interested in.

andreios, Bratislava, Slovakia
Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: andreios ]

Does the Byzantine Catholic Church not have the ability or competence (in the legal sense) to beatify its own saints?

Are all the saints in the East not beatified by the Pope of Rome illegal?

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: Edwin ]

Dear Edwin,

Whenever the Apostolic Churches were in schism, they would still never question each other's canonizations of saints. Upon reunion, the saints would continue to be venerated.

This is what happed with Sts. Vladimir and Olha etc. in the Kyivan Church when it came into union with Rome. These saints were not canonized by Rome, but their cult continued after the Union of Brest-Litovsk and they are now in the universal Roman Calendar.

After the "split" between East and West, there have been Orthodox saints glorified by the Orthodox Churches that have been periodically included into the Roman calendar e.g. St Gregory Palamas, St Seraphim of Sarov and St Sergius Radonezh.

In 1904, Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky applied to Rome on behalf of the Russian Byzantine Catholics to ask Rome to approve for the veneration of the Byzantine Catholic Church all the Saints of Russia canonized by the Orthodox Church.

Rome did in fact approve this, dropping only a few names of saints who were a bit anti-Rome . . .

When the Ethiopian Catholic Church was formed, St Pontius Pilate was dropped from the calendar as well as well as Nabi Iskander or Alexander the Great, Prophet and King!

The Eastern Catholic Churches do not now beatify their own saints, although they really should be able to, as part of their identity as Particular Churches.

As you know, after Pope Urban VIII reserved the right of beatification to Rome alone, many western Catholic Bishops did not obey,but continued to beatify their own diocesan beati e.g. Blessed John Duns Scotus was beatified by a local Italian bishop many, many years before the Pope beatified him in recent times. Blessed Peter Lombard, Blessed Joachim di Fiore, Blessed Henry VI in England and even Blessed Jerome Savonarola are all examples of local saints who enjoyed strong local cults.

St Philip Neri and St Catherine of Genoa, both being from Florence, wore medals of Jerome Savonarola around their necks. The "Devil's Advocate" in Rome wanted to put this, the cult of Savonarola, as something against Neri's canonization. The Pope of the day ordered this to be "passed over."

The last book to have been read by Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky, or St Andrew as we call him, was about Jerome Savonarola. There is currently a canonization process afoot for a Dominican who was also known for his devotion to Savonarola.

God bless,

Alex

I'm confused...
- According to the Ukrainian Catholic newspaper I have here, Bishop Pavlo Hoydych was a Ukrainian Catholic Martyr.

- According to the biographies of Blessed Pavel, he was not of Slovak nationality.

- The Eparchy of Presov was, during his lifetime, an eparchy of the Ruthenian Catholic Church.

Who was he really?

Thanks for your other information.

Dear RichC,

There is no doubt that Blessed Paul Gojdic was of Ukrainian nationality and there is more than one version of such.

He lived and worked among Ukrainians, Ruthenians and Slovaks.

That the Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church claims him for their own is a great honour and their right, since he worked among them and with the help of the ethnic Slovak martyr, Blessed Methodius.

We can share him . . .

Also, even though Blessed Theodore Romzha is a Ruthenian saint, this does not prevent him from being honoured by the Ukrainians etc.

Alex

This is not true. Bishop Pavel Gojdic (pronunciation Goydich but not Hoydich) was sure not an Ukrainian. This is a deformation caused by Ukrainian nationalism.



That is right. He was Rusin, ruthenian nationality. My sentence was not precise enough - he was the greatest personality of Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia (in the country) in the 20th century. And I have to say that he loved his Ruthenian nation and language much.



In the Eparchy of Presov lived (and still live) Rusins (Ruthenians), Slovaks and Magyars (Ungarians). The proportion of these nationalities is nowadays different than 1920 or 1940, but all of this nationalities lived and live in the Eparchy of Presov (may be, the Magyars/Ungarians live now in the territory of the Exarchate of Kosice.)

andreios
grkat.nfo.sk

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: andreios ]

Dear Andreios,

Whether or not deformations were caused by either Ukrainian or Ruthenian nationalisms, those who knew Bishop Paul (including my grandfather) knew that he considered himself to be Ukrainian.

He was not a Ukrainian of the "Galician" mentality or otherwise. But he was of the "Carpathian" mentality.

We will agree to disagree, but the distinction between Carpathian and Ukrainian in this modern context is something that was created in North America. But it does depend on what you mean by "Ukrainian" and there is more than one version of this identity.

This does not mean that Bishop Paul was not, in the fullest sense, of the Slovak or Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church.

Ethnic background is multifaceted and dynamic. I have studied it for my Ph.D. and have worked with enough families of different backgrounds to recognize how varied it truly is.

Alex

He was sure not of Ukrainian nationality but Ruthenian (Rusin) nationality. He was born in Ruske Peklany, near Presov, there are no Ukrainians there and never have been.




1. I did not mean Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church as nationality but as a territory (Eparchy of Presov + Exarchate of Kosice - both on the territory of Slovak Republic). I do not understand our Church in national sense and so do mostly people in Slovakia.

2. Metod Trcka was of Czech origin, born in Frydlant nad Ostravici (now Czech republic). But he works among Rusins and Slovaks in Slovakia and in Halic (Galicia) among Ukrainians.

andreios

grkat.nfo.sk

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: andreios ]

Dear Andreios,

There is nothing in your post that I would disagree with!

That there were and are Ukrainians in Pryashiv or Presov is something that we will also have to agree to disagree with.

Again, it is how one understands Ukrainian identity and the labels by which people go by.

My grandfather and his ancestors before him certainly referred to themselves as "Ruthenians" or "Rusyns."

This term refers to the Carpathian people who consider themselves to be a distinct and separate group today.

But this term was for years used as the only term by which Ukrainians identified themselves as a national group, especially under Poland.

Patriarch Slipyj renewed what he and many others felt was the historical link with Kyivan Rus' when he called himself the Pariarch of "Rus'-Ukraine."

My grandfather was a Greek Catholic priest and a Boyko-Ukrainian.

He too worked in Slovakia. He told me how impressed he was with how the Slovaks brought their prayerbooks with them to Church and how they joined with the cantor in responding in Church etc.

The boundaries that are so important to us today were not so in those times where Slavic Greek Catholics worked together in serving the Lord and their people.

It was not my intention to start an argument over Bishop Paul Gojdic's background.

I have always had a deep veneration for this Martyr. My grandfather told me about how the local people honoured him as a stigmatist.

To this day, I cannot look at a picture of him without feeling tears come to my eyes. He is my most favourite martyr of the Soviet Yoke.

I apologise for anything I have said. In my Church, we do honour him as a Ukrainian martyr, but that can mean more things than one.

St Paisius Velichkovsky was Ukrainian and signed his name "Native of Poltava."

That doesn't prevent him from being honoured in Bucharest as "St Paisius of Romania." Again, I am proud that he is.

Again, I apologise. May our Blessed Hieromartyr Paul pray for us always.

Alex

This is an interesting question. I was in Ruske Peklany just three weeks ago, and did a bit of questioning of the locals.

The man who lives next to the village's church (Greek Catholic) says that the people there "never" (I guess in his lifetime) spoke Ukrainian (bisidovaly po rusnacky), although in the neighboring village Lubovec they did. Although he could not explain how the village got its name "Ruske."

Another woman whom I met in the cemetery actually is half Ukrainian. She was born in the village but her mother was from Kharkiv, Ukraine. She says she remembers that the old people in the village bisidovaly po rusnacky.

The woman who had the keys to the church is a Roman Catholic but was very proud of the fact that Bishop Paul was being beatified. She wanted to go to Rome for the event but it didn't work out. She says the people in the village did not speak Ukrainian (ne bisidovaly) but she acknowledges that the Gojdic family were not Slovaks (i.e., Rusini).

Today there are more Roman Catholics in the village than Greek Catholics, and a visiting RC priest has masses in the village church.

But Blessed Pavel was born there (his father was the parish priest) but his roots are in Medzilaborce region. As to whether he considered himself a Ukrainian, his writings and public statements would seem to directly contradict that possibility.

Of course, since we are Christians none of this has any relevance and it is merely taking up bandwidth that is better spent discussing other things.

Does anybody know what miracle(s) were authenticated to have been worked through his intercession?

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: RichC ]

Dear RichC,

If you don't mind a Boyko answering your question . . .

As I understand it, Bishop Paul's martyrdom, having been established, was what advanced him to the rank of "Blessed" alone as is the case with martyrs.

There are, of course, many locally acclaimed miracles through his intercession and these continue, which could go toward his eventual canonization.

Alex

Dear Andreios and RichC,

You have to forgive me in my clinging to this notion about Bishop Paul being Ukrainian.

It is clear to me that I was brainwashed by years of being in the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

No problem. I am going to write to my bishop and my patriarch and tell them to "get with the program."

I think I am slowly coming out of the nationalist phase of my upbringing . . . Slava Ukrayini! Woops! Did I say that?

Alex

Dear Alex,

Be not troubled. You're always OK in my book. No de-programming required.

Heroyam slava!

RDC

Dear RichC,

Ditto! Ditto!

Heroyam Slava!

Alex

SLAVA ISUSU CHRISTU!
SLAVA NA VIKI BOHU!

My cousins in Presov tell that there will be a giant thanksgiving service in the Sports Palace and then a big procession to St. John's Cathedral in Presov on Saturday.

They're also promising to make video tapes of the ceremonies and to send clippings!

Looking forward to it.

Hope to have a 1st hand account from a priest friend who helped co-ordinate things in Rome and Presov. He's been over there for 4 wks already!

Dear Medved,

Since I've embarrassed myself here already, what could you find out about Blessed Paul's ethnic background?

Not that it matters, really, since he is now at home in our Heavenly homeland!

Ukrainian or not, he is included among the Ukrainian Bishop Martyrs in our churches, as is Blessed Theodore Romzha.

Perhaps our icon-writers could, in future, put Ukrainian flag lapel pins on those martyrs who were Ukrainian etc.

Alex

Slava Isusu Christu!

Alex, you need not to apologize. I personally would agree with the term "Carpathian Ukrainians". But Rusins from Slovakia would not agree.

Short historical note: In 1930 lived in the area of Slovakia about 90.000 Rusins ("Ruthenian" or "Russian nationalities"), nowadays only 24201 (census 2001). But nowadays Ukrainians 10814. In Slovakia, if you say Ukrainian, that means someone from Lvov or Kijev or Doneck. May be, from Mukacevo or Uzhorod, but not Medzilaborce or Svidnik.

During the communist regime it was not allowed to declare the nationality as Rusin, only Ukrainian. Due to this violence, many Rusins declare themselves as Slovaks. Other part of Rusins declared themselves as Ukrainians; there were founded several Ukrainian schools in North-Eastern Slovakia. That is why so few people declared themselves as Rusins in the last census and why many Rusins in Slovakia dont like the term "Ukrainian" - without negative feeling to Ukraine as a country or nation. (Though other declare themselves as Ukrainians.)

In my opinion, this was an sick idea of soviet communist regime - to build one slavonic communistic (atheist) nation.

NOTE: I have to say, I am not Rusin and no one of my ancestors (as far as I know) were Rusins.

I have read in our magazine SLOVO, that the process of beatification was started in 1986 by vladyka Koscisko (may be, the orthography is not right), archbishop of Pittsburgh.

andreios
Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia webpage

Dear Andreios,

Thank you, Brother!

Yes, the soviets did a lot of cultural experimentation to "divide and conquer," to be sure.

I remember once meeting a "Kuban Kozak." He spoke flawlessly Ukie, said he was from Ukraine, but defined himself culturally as a Kuban Kozak.

The more the merrier, I say!

Blessed Paul Goydich, Holy Martyr of the Lord, pray unto God for us!

Alex

An interesting article on the nationality of bishop Pavel in Slovak language apeared in Slovak newspaper Sme – http://www.sme.sk/clanok.asp?vyd=20011205&cl=177659

Discusion to this article available on http://www.sme.sk/clanok_koment.asp?cl=177659

In Slovakia the problem is that many Slovaks do not like to declare Gojdic's nationality as Rusin.

andreios
Byzantine Catholic Chuch in Slovakia

Hi Andreios!! Folks, the Byzantine Catholic parish in Bratislava, SK (Andreios's parish) is really great. And the people there are fine ambassadors of Christian hospitality!

[ 12-13-2001: Message edited by: RichC ]

In the December edition of the New Star newspaper (official news of the St. Nicholas Eparchy for Ukrainians in Chicago,) there was a small note that Blessed Paul Gojdic was the hierarch who ordained our dear retired Eparch, Bishop INNOCENT (Lotocky) OSBM to the priesthood.

I'll try to get more info on this.

With best wishes to all for New Calandar Christmas!

Stefan

Dear Stefan-Ivan,

Yes, those Basilians do stick together, don't they?

I almost became one myself . . .

Alex