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Glory to Jesus Christ!

We have a new Byzantine Catholic vladyka (bishop) in Slovakia!

The Roman pope John Paul II. has today (11th december at 12:00 MET) accepted the abdication of the Byzantine Catholic bishop of Preshov Jan Hirka according to the canon 210 � 1 CCEO.

He nominated for the new bishop of Preshov father Jan Babjak, SJ (read Yan Babyak).

More informations and curriculum vitae of our new bishop available on http://grkat.nfo.sk (At present time only in Slovak, but I hope, an English version will be done soon.)

I ask you for your prayers for our new vladyka.

andreios
Byzantine Catholics in Slovakia [grkat.nfo.sk]

Many years to Bishop-elect Jan!

Thank you, Andreios!

My translation of the announcement:
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Pope John Paul II today, 11 December, in accordance with Canon 210 Article 1 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches accepted the resignation of the ordinary of the Presov Eparchy, Bishop Jan Hirka. He named as the new ordinary Father Jan Babjak, SJ. He will be ordained bishop on January 6 in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Jan Babjak was born October 28, 1953 in Haz�n nad Cirochou. Upon completing his high school (gymnazium) studies in Humenne he matriculated in theological studies at the Sts. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Bratislava. He was ordained priest 11 June 1978 and was incardinated into the Eparchy of Presov. He was an assistant in the Presov (cathedral) parish (1978-1983) and pastor of the parish in Poprad (1983-1987). In he secretly joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). In 1989-1990 he was prefect of the Sts. Cyril & Methodius Theological Seminary in Bratislava and then pastor of the Greek Catholic parish in Bratislava (1990-1991).

From 1991 to 1993 he continued his studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, where he earned a licentiate degree in spirituality. From 1993 to 1994 he was director of the Jesuit (exercicny?) House in Presov, and then for a short time worked at Vatican Radio. From 1994-1996 he completed his theological studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome and wrote his doctoral dissertation on the theme of Father Michal Lacko, SJ - historian of the Greek Catholics. Since 1996 he has been the director of the Michael Lacko, SJ East-West Spirituality Center in Kosice and teaches Eastern spirituality at the Theological Faculty of the University of Trnava.

Dear Lemko Rusyn!

Thank you for the translation!

Could I use it for the English version of our page [grkat.nfo.sk] ?

andreios
Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia [grkat.nfo.sk]

It looks to me like what we have here is a repeat of the Mukachevo situation -- a man of Roman Catholic origin who later joined the Greek Catholic Church and is a member of a Roman Catholic religious order (that in this case, the Jesuits, does have some Greek Catholic membership) is appointed to a Greek Catholic see.

I draw this conclusion about his origins because of the line

K?azsk� sv�tenie prijal 11. j�na 1978, ?�m bol za?lenen� do Pre?ovskej eparchie.
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He was ordained priest 11 June 1978 and was incardinated into the Eparchy of Presov.
If he were Greek Catholic to begin with, he wouldn't have to have been incardinated into the Eparchy -- which was at that time the only Greek Catholic jurisdiction on the territory of then-Czechoslovakia.

Is there such a lack of qualified candidates for the episcopate among our native born and bred?

And it looks like he'll be consecrated bishop at St. Peter's at the same time as Mukachevo bishop-elect Milan Sasik.

Absolutely.

Father Jan is of Greek Catholic origin. Sure, I know it, because he was our priest for 2 years and he calls me to serve in the church. So, I know him well.

The formulation was not correct, I am sorry. I just translated the text from the Vatican daily bulletin, there is such an interesting formulation, because, they wanted to say, that he was not a order priest yet. He joined the Society of Jesus few years later.

I have allready corrected the Slovak text.

Thank you for the translation.

andreios
Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia [grkat.nfo.sk]

Dear Friends,

This business of consecrating bishops for you who are of former RC background, although innocuous by all accounts, appears to smack of some nervousness on the part of Rome with respect to exerting greater administrative control over Mukachevo.

I don't pretend to know the politics. If this might be a viable scenario, why do you think Rome feels threatened by your Church in Mukachevo?

Do you pose some sort of ecumenical geopolitical threat vis-a-vis the Orthodox? What do you think it could be, IF you feel that Rome is trying to exert undue influence where it is not desired or deserved?

My eparchy too had its Apostolic Administrator. Some called it the "Five Year Vatican Plan" for our eparchy.

Alex

Also, what are relations like in Eastern Slovakia now between the Greek Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church? I have heard they are not as strained as in Ukraine. I hope this is true and that the past is being overcome in charity.

Dear Brian,

The current situation in Ukraine is about strains along cultural lines, not religious.

Ukrainian Catholics and Ukrainian Orthodox (the independent of Moscow AND therefore uncanonical kind) are closer than ever.

Both groups have strained relationships with the Moscow Patriarchate and its satellite dish in Ukraine, the UOC-MP.

But the MP seems to want to make war and not peace no matter how many olive branches are extended.

The strain there is about lost empires, lost churches and lost face.

Alex

Thanks Alex. I knew a little more about the situation in Ukraine then in Eastern Slovakia. I have heard from reports and from both Ortho and Greek Cath people who have been in the area that relations are a little better then in Ukraine and was hoping that "our man on the scene", Andreois, could tell us of the current state of ecumenical relations.

Peace,
Brian

Dear Brian,

You don't have to be Ukrainian to understand the situation over there - but it helps

So where's Andreios with the good word?

Alex

Once again, Rome is using a very condescending tone by selecting a "foriegn" bishop for the Greek Catholics of Prjashev Eparchy.
Although a cradle Greek Catholic, the new bishop-elect was trained under a very Latin environment while with the Jesuit Order. Greek Catholics monks should be of an Eastern Order, as in the Basilian Order. I think this action by Rome will continue the "Cold War" between the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches of Slovakia and Transcarpathia. Why wasn't a "local" indigenous Greek Catholic elevated to episcopacy? Surely there had to be a qualified candidate in the Prjashev Eparchy who could have been selected. Why wasn't Vladyka Milan from the Kosice Eparchy elevated? This just doesn't make sense IMHO! It seems that even in Eastern Europe, being labeled a "sui juris" church is just that, a lable.

Ung-Certez

Dear Ung-Certez,

I well sympathise with what you have said!

And sometimes a new bishop has to "prove his mettle" before anything can be said about him.

What you said about the Latin environment and the Jesuits applies equally to . . . Patriarch Josef Slipyj!

He was Jesuit-trained, very pro-Latinist, pro-celibacy, and anti-Orthodox while Rector of the L'viv Seminary.

(Our Basilian Press sometimes publishes his old "one in the eye for the Orthodox" articles).

As for the Basilians being more Eastern than the Jesuits - I just don't know about that.

The best things about Eastern theology and liturgy are today being published by the Byzantine Jesuits in Rome - there's none better than they.

Our Basilians just don't "hold a candle" to them in that department!

Alex

But Siberia changed all that for him.

Dear Friends:

I should not be dipping my finger into this Ukrainian/Ruthenian/Slovak mix but I am, as of now by the "blessings" of "Patriarch" Alex and "Archimandrite" defreitas, a Ukie, honoris causa.

Rome is not trying to emasculate the 3 sui juris Churches.

On the contrary, I think, that after the fall of Soviet (Communist) imperialism/
hegemony the Vatican has to provide support for the ecclesial structure for the growth of each of these culturally related Churches, heretofore violently suppressed.

The Ukrainians have their Major Archbishopric, centered in L'viv, now close to being upgraded to a Patriarchate, centered in K'yiv, with authority extending worldwide.

There are three distinct Ruthenian Catholic jurisdictions:

(1) the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Metropolitanate in the United States, a metropolitan church sui juris centered in Pittsburgh, which includes Rusyns (Lemko-Rusyns), and Slovaks; (The Metropolitanate submits its Bishops-nominees to the Papal Nuncio to the U.S. for consideration by Rome.)

(2) the eparchy of Muka�evo (Mukachevo) in Ukraine, which is immediately subject to the Holy See and, therefore, the appointment of its Bishop is the prerogative of the Vatican as in the recent appointment; and

(3) the Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic.

The relationship among the three has not been clarified. The bishop of Muka�evo (Mukachevo) is listed as head of the Church, but he has no authority over the other two jurisdictions. The membership of almost 600,000 includes the combined statistics for all three.

The Slovak Greek Catholic Church, the subject of this thread, has 2 eparchies (dioceses): Presov in Eastern Slovakia and in Toronto (Ontario), Canada.

Both eparchies are immediately subject to the Holy See; hence, the appointment of Bishops/Apostolic Administrators still remains the prerogative of the Vatican.

In the United States and most other areas, the Slovaks are not distinguished from the Ruthenians.

Their eparchy in Canada is presently presided over by an Apostolic Administrator.

The Prešov Eparchy includes a significant number of ethnic Rusyn Greek Catholics. In recent times, however, they have been absorbed into the Slovak culture to a certain extent, as very few religious books are available in Rusyn, and the liturgy is almost always celebrated in either Church Slavonic or Slovak.

The Greek Catholic Slovaks number more than 223,000 (~20,000 in Canada) and, if you add them to the Ruthenians, their membership is close to 1 million, which, in due course, might be elevated into a Major Archbishopric if the 2 sui juris Churches were to re-unite.

Interventions are welcome!

"Lubomyr Voyin"