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Does anyone know if there is an effort on the part of the Ruthenian Metropolia of Pittsburgh to help the poor Rusyns / Rusins of Slovakia who have been denied a bishop of their own ? Why are the Slovak Catholics not permitting the Rusyns to pray in their own language and have their own bishop ? Next door in Ukraine no such discrimination towards the Rusyns exists.

I.F.

Read this news story:

Sighetu Marmaţiei, June 23rd, 2007

His Holiness

Pope Benedikt XVI

Vatican





Request of the delegates and guests

of the 9th World Congress of Rusyns

for recognition of the Rusyn Greek-Catholic Church

sui iuris in Slovakia and the appointment of its Rusyn bishop



Your Holiness,

We, the undersigned members of the World Council of Rusyns, being representatives of Rusyn cultural organisations in ten countries around the world associated in the World Congress of Rusyns, met on June 22nd � 23rd, 2007 at the 9th Congress in the town of Sighetu Marmaţiei in Romania. First of all, we would like to greet You, Your Holiness, and send You some heart-felt prayers from Rusyn Greek-Catholics, by which, to almighty God, we pray for You, representative of Jesus Christ on Earth, health and God�s grace in abundance.



At the World Congress meeting, problems of Rusyns around the world were discussed, especially their cultural-national development and recognition of their nationality rights in each country, where they live in high numbers. Among the discussed matters was the situation of Rusyn Greek-Catholics in Slovakia, who encounter injustice in non-recognition of their rights to use their mother tongue, Rusyn, in liturgical ceremonies, the right to post Rusyn priests in parishes with Rusyn congregations and the right to educate Rusyn theologians to preach among Rusyn believers in the Rusyn language. Rusyn priests addressed Your predecessor Holy Father John Paul II in 1997 and later in 2003 with an official request for recognition of the Rusyn Greek-Catholic Church sui iuris in Slovakia, as well as with a request to appoint a Rusyn bishop for this Church. However, the submitted matter has remained unresolved to this day. Rusyns realise the difficulties in resolving their request, but they find it just and fair according to secular and church laws.

That is why we address You, Holy Father, with trust and hope and we believe that our pleas will be heard. Our hope at this time is strengthened by Your increased interest in events within the Catholic Church in Slovakia, about which You were informed at the recent visit of bishops from Slovakia to the Vatican, as well as about the effort to create new bishoprics here. Although in 1968 Annuario Pontifico, the Rusyn Greek-Catholic Church sui iuris was changed to Slovak, the original Rusyn Church sui iuris did not cease to exist. On the contrary, this Church wishes to keep its identity and develop the religious and cultural heritage of its ancestors. It is also proven by the fact that, at the latest census of residents in Slovakia in 2001, 35 thousand Greek-Catholics designated Rusyn their mother tongue.



Your Holiness, on behalf of Rusyn Greek-Catholics, loyal messengers of Cyril and Method and most holy tradition of the Eastern Slavonic Church ceremonies, which link Greek-Catholic Rusyns not only in Slovakia, but also in Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the USA, Canada, and elsewhere in the world, delegates of which represented their brothers and sisters also at the 9th World Congress of Rusyns in Romania, we ask You, who are at the position of the Holiest Office of Roman Pontifex Maxima, to hear the voice of Greek-Catholic Rusyns in Slovakia and renew the Rusyn Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia. For this deed, You will be sincerely thanked and Your decision will be beatified not only by the contemporary Rusyn Greek-Catholic congregation, but also their successors.



Praise be to Jesus Christ! (Slava Isusu Christu!)



With reverence,

members of the World Council of Rusyns

as the executive body of the World Congress of Rusyns:

Chairman Paul Robert Magocsi (North America)

Vice-Chairman Djura Papuga (Serbia)

Members of World Council of Rusyns:

Mychail Alma�ij (Ukraine)

Marianna Ljavinyec (Hungary)

Gheorghe Firczak (Romania)

Ag�ta Pil�tov� (Czech Republic)

Vladim�r Protivň�k (Slovakia)

Andrzej Kopcza (Poland)

Natalija Hnatko (Croatia)

Deputy of the World Council of Rusyns Alexander Zozuľ�k (Slovakia)

Why not keep it in the Ruthenian 'family' and appeal to Patriarch Lubomyr of Kyiv instead of Rome? Sorry, I forgot - Ukrainians are abusive to Rusyns and too Orthodox, real Catholics always go to Rome for everything (then ignore whatever they don't like).

_____
Certe, Toto, sentio nos in Kansate non iam adesse.

Basically, the Pittsburgh Metropolia has disassociated themselves with the Rusyn cause. Bishop's Kosicko and Bilock were the last to do anything pro-Rusyn in regards to the Pittsburgh Metropolia. I have heard from many sources that they will remain to stay out of the ethnicity issues in Eastern Europe.

The Slovak Greek Catholic Church has been trying to slovakizie the Rusyns since at least the time of Fr. Andrej Hlinka and Msgr. Jozef Tiso around the time of the Munich Agreement and WWII. Remember beforehand the magyarization of Rusyns and Slovaks? Well now the Slovaks are in power, so they just decided to pick up where the Magyars left off...

After the rehabilitation of the G.C. Church in 1968, Bishop Hirka was appointed Apostolic Admin. (a strong supporter of slovakization), not Bishop Hopko, who was Auxiliary to Bishop Gojdic (if I remember right was Coadjutor but not sure??) and the rightful successor to the Presov Eparchy, who was expected to be named after his ordeal with the communists.

Since then, there has been great slovakiziation of the Rusyns through Hirka's and Bishop Babjak's episcopacy. It seems that throughout the centuries the way to eliminate an ethnic people is to forcible assimilate them. This was the official view of the ukrainianization of the Rusyns from the days of Klement Gottwald until the Velvet Revolution of 1989.

Next door in Ukraine, they do not even accept Rusyns as a separate ethnicity, so naturally there is no discrimination. The Transcarpathian Oblast has accepted Rusyn as a distinct national minority ethnic people. This is against the official Ukrainian party line position that Rusyns are just a sub-section of Ukrainian ethnicity, and has sent it to the Verchovna Rada for acceptance by the country of Ukraine.

Bishop Sasik is from Slovakia, but has not come out against Rusyns there, so maybe that will help Rusyns in Transcarpathia.

I did not get to go to this Rusyn World Congress but was at the last few. I saw the preliminary reports via the www.rusynacademy.sk [rusynacademy.sk] website. Can't wait for more about the Congress.

Dear Rusyn31,

'Au contraire' - the Ukrainians do in fact accept the Rusyns. Please read the recent letter from the President of the Ukrainian World Congress to the President of the Rusyn World Congress (pasted below).

I'm glad to hear that bishop Sasik who was born and raised as a Roman Catholic in Slovakia and now serves as bishop for the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo in Transcarpathia, Ukraine has not come out against the Rusyns. That would be a very mimimum the Rusyns should expect. I guess the right question to ask is - "Why has bishop Sasik (Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo in Transcarpathia, Ukraine) not come to the defense of the Rusyns in Eastern Slovakia ?". They are after all right next door and the same Carpatho-Rusyn people. As you mentioned, Bishop Babjak (ethnic Slovak in Eastern Slovakia) has been actively participating in the Slovakization of the Rusyn minority in his eparchy, yet Bishop Babjak does not speak out in defence of the Rusyns next door.

I.F.

СВІТОВИЙ КОНҐРЕС УКРАЇНЦІВ UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS
CONGR�S MONDIAL UKRAINIEN CONGRESO MUNDIAL UCRANIO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEWSLETTER

UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS

№ 6 (46) � June, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UWC SENDS GREETINGS TO RUSYN CONGRESS

On June 1, 2007 the UWC President sent greetings to the World Congress of Rusyns addressed to its Chairman Paul Robert Magocsi. The greetings read in part:

�Thank you for your kind invitation to the Ninth World Congress of Rusyns. I am reminded of the words of the Rev. Markian Shashkevych to his fellow Ukrainians, �Rus�ka Maty nas rodyla, Rus�ka Maty nas povyla��

The ranks of the Ukrainian World Congress are replete with Rusyns not only in ancestry but in name as well. At least three member organizations within the Ukrainian World Congress bear the name Rusyns: Union of Rusyns and Ukrainians in Serbia and Montenegro, Union of Rusyns-Ukrainians in the Slovak Republic and Union of Rusyns and Ukrainians in the Republic of Croatia. Nothing would please me more than if all Rusyn organizations outside Ukraine were a part of the Ukrainian World Congress. Certainly, I would welcome continued dialogue in this regard.

We in the Ukrainian World Congress regard Rus� to be the ancient name for what is now called Ukraine, and Rusyns (or Ruthenians in Latin) to be the people who now refer to them as Ukrainians (some with the addendum of �Rusyns� included). The principal history text of our people is, after all, entitled �History of Ukraine-Rus��. I have read your book �Our People� and found that it points to so much in common, i.e. history, culture, religion. Suffice it to say that there is more than unites than divides us.

Unfortunately�I cannot be with you at the Congress. Nonetheless I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt greetings and those of the Ukrainian World Congress to all the participants and all the Rusyns of the world. May God bless your efforts. May you prosper and enrich your lives. I wish you well because we are all God�s children, but I wish you more because we Ukrainians are all Rusyns after all.�

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� 2004 Ukrainian World Congress. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: congress@look.ca

Jean Francois,

That is from the Ukrainian World Congress President. It is good to see the UWC state that, although reading the greeting, it doesn't really sound like they are differentiating any differences between Ukrainians and Rusyns with sentences like,

"Nothing would please me more than if all Rusyn organizations outside Ukraine were a part of the Ukrainian World Congress. Certainly, I would welcome continued dialogue in this regard".

or,

"We in the Ukrainian World Congress regard Rus� to be the ancient name for what is now called Ukraine, and Rusyns (or Ruthenians in Latin) to be the people who now refer to them as Ukrainians (some with the addendum of �Rusyns� included)".

Goes back to my original statement that Ukrainians just regard Rusyns as nothing but misguided Ukrainians.

Have to agree with Rusyn31 here.
Look at the last paragraph of the letter:
I am ashamed to say it sounds similar to what a Moskophil would say to a "Little Russian".
Why am I ashamed? Because I am a Ukrainian-Canadian and of Ukrainian heritage. I believe in self-determination of ethnicity.
If the Rusyns see themselves and self-declare themselves to be a specific ethnic group then I feel I have to respect their wishes.
Coming from Toronto, I knew little about the Rusyns before I became involved in this forum.

Dear Rusyn,

If you read the letter from the President of the Ukrainian World Congress, it is cleaR that at least 'some' of the Rusyns in Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, and even Slovakia have no problem associating themselves with the larger Rusyn collective known as Ukrainians. They retain their ancient 'Rusyn' name but feel their ethnic identity can be best protected by joining with the larger group of Ukrainians.

Also, from what I have heard the vast majority of Rusyns in Canada, France, Australia, Brazil, Poland, Czech Republic, and most of the rest of the world have no problem with identifying themselves as Ukrainian-Rusyns. You may be surprised to hear that the vast majority of Rusyns in the Transcarpathian Region (Oblast) of Ukraine also identify themselves as both Rusyn and Ukrainian (some Rusyn first and some Ukrainian first - and some Russian).

Your statement is unkind since there are many Rusyns who feel very much at home with Ukrainians as described above. Certainly you can't believe that all of these Rusyns are as you say "misguided".

I.F.

Jean Francois,

My Rusyn cousins im Uzhorod do not believe they are Ukrainian. In fact, they speak a mix of Rusyn dialect and Great Russian. And their grandparents' generation still talk about the pre-War days when Uzhorod was the capital of Podkarpats'ka-Rus' Province of the first democratic Czechoslovakia. If one visits Uzhorod, you can hear a lot of Hungarian and Slovak speaking citizens, not to mention the numerous Roma-speaking Gypsy citizens.

Ungcsertezs

What is the official response of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church to this dispute?

The "official" response of the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia is at this link:

http://www.grkatpo.sk/spravy/?zobrazit=text&id=797

Unfortunately it is in Slovak, and I do not have time to translate it now. Maybe someone that has a few minutes can post it.

The Rusyn Greek Catholic Charter that prompted this response from the Presov bishop can be found here:

http://www.rusynacademy.sk/english/en_religions.html

This link is in English, or you can also go to the Rusyn or Slovak version as well.

Miller -

It seems our posts missed each other by about 4 minutes. Please read my last one in which I agree 100% with you that people have a right to self determination. Why then ignore the fact that the majority of Rusyns around the world also see themselves as Ukrainians and vice versa. In fact in your native Canada, the Transcarpathian Rusyns and Galican Rusyns merged into one peoples just before the first World War and were known thereafter by their knickname 'Ukrainians' so as not be be confused with the 'Rossiany' (Russians formerly known as Moskali / Muscovite). You can Google the words Ruthenian and provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba and the search engine will provide you with pictures old Ruthenian parishes which only later adopted their unified Rusyn name 'Ukrainians'.

In Quebec (the French Canadian province) the 'mother' of all Ukrainian churches in Montreal known as St-Michael's Parish was founded by Ruthenian Metropolitan Andrej Sheptytskyj prior to the first world war and the corner stone of the church located on Iberville Street still reads: 'St-Michael's Ruthenian Greek-Catholic Church'. In 1969 UGCC Patriarch and Cardinal Joseph Slypij paid homage to the founding Ruthenian (Rusyns) and Ukrainians of the parish church.

Outside of the United States, the above is more or less true in every country outside of the present day Ukrainian Republic.

Ung-Certez -

Thanks for your family history - it is very interesting. You are correct that Uzhorod is largely a non-ethnic Ukrainian city which has a large Hungarian minority. But in spite of this, all the people who live there speak perfect modern Ukrainian and the vast majority have or have a right to a Ukrainian passport because they are citizens of that nation. Further, please remember that it was the elected government official ande Ruthenian Greek Catholic Monsignor Avgustin Voloshyn who declare 'Podkarpastska-Rus' to be a Carpatho-Ukrainian nation in 1939, just prior to Hungarian invading it.

CRW -

Thank you for returning this thread back to it's original topic. Can anyone tell us how the Slovak Greek Catholic Church has responded ? One thing is for sure, that Bishopo Babjak has aggressively put down any clergy who have promoted a Ruthenian agenda. There are some great web sites about his Slovak intolerance for the Ruthenians.

I.f.

Very sad. Where is Orest Chornock when he is needed in his homeland?

Miller

I thought this article would help you better understand your Ukrainian roots.

http://canadaeast.com/ce2/docroot/article.php?articleID=24571

Quote # 1:

''The Ukrainians, Galicians, Ruthenians and Bukovinians left a physical impact in the form of over 50 exquisite Byzantine churches in what has been called the Church Capital of Canada.''

This quote would support what I had mentioned earlier, that when these Slavs came to Canada they more often than not identified themselves by what now would be considered regional (or provincial) names. In Canada they understood themselves to be the same people, and not Austro-Hungarians, or Russians, or Poles, and eventually all of them adopted the modern Rusyn national term. Today, these groups all belong to 'Ukrainian' (Rusyn national) churches - Greek Catholic and Orthodox.

Quote # 2:

''In the 50-odd churches mentioned in Kalyna by Alberta Tourism, there is a near equal split between Russo-Greek Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox. The Byzantine churches, complete with cupolas and Orthodox crosses, are always located in scenic areas. A very complete brochure from Alberta Tourism gives detailed instructions on how to reach the churches."

The term Russo-Greek Catholic is in fact Ruthenian or Rusyn Greek Catholic. You may notice that there are also Russian Orthodox churches in the area. 100 years ago 90 - 95% of these parishoners would have come from what is now the modern Ukrainian Republic and would probably identify themselves as Ukrainians (they would probably also be members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate).

I hope you get a chance to discover your Ukrainian Canadian ancestry by visiting Alberta this summer and visiting some of these churches.

I.F.

The only time Carpatho-Rusyns had their own country, in 1939, they called it "Carpatho-Ukraine." Rusyn is a dialect of Ukrainian.

Athanasius Pekar in his books does not seem to make a great distinction between Ukrainians and Rusyns.

It seems that there is a an extremely close relationship of Rusyns to Ukrainians, if they are not exactly identical.

Is it possible that for some at least, the distancing from identification with the larger Ukrainian nation could in fact be the result of past Slovakization and Magyarization?

We share with the Ukrainians the same liturgical traditions of the Kievan tradition. Our chants are historically different.

Frankly- I do not want to offend anyone- it seems in my reading of history, only a mountain range puts much distance between Rusyns and Ukrainians.

With all due respect, I have heard the opposite of what Ung-Certez shares: that in fact many Rusyns do view themselves as Ukrainian, hyphenated or not, in the Uzhorod area.