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VATICAN SAYS IT WILL NOT SET UP PATRIARCHATE IN UKRAINE
(AGI) Vatican City, Feb 21st Pope John Paul II will not set up a Greek-Catholic patriarchate in Ukraine as this might hurt the Russian Greek-Orthodox community, who would perceive it as an attempt at imposing Roman Catholic interests in an area which traditionally belongs to the Church of Moscow.

This is according to a note issued today by the Press Department of the Holy See on the strength of the decisions made in the 19th February meeting among the Head of Foreign Relations at the Moscow Patriarchate, the Smolensk and Kaliningrad Metropolitan Bishop, Kirill, and Chairman of the Papal Council for the Unity of Christians, Card. Walter Kasper. The meeting was also attended by the papal ambassador in Russia, Antonio Mennini.

According to the note, during the meeting, both parties examined the issues related to the relation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, particularly with regards to Russia and Ukraine. Cardinal Kasper confirmed that the Holy See has received a written reply from the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the possibility of setting up a Greek-Catholic patriarchate in Ukraine, as well as similar replies from all local Orthodox churches.

To this regard, the note says, Kasper stated that the common line endorsed by all Orthodox churches has been taken into serious account by authorities of the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore, the Catholic Church has assured its Orthodox counterpart that it is its intention to strengthen its positive relations with Orthodox churches. Both parties have agreed that, in order to solve any issues that may arise in the future with regards to relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, a work group will be set up featuring members of both Churches. The aim of the group will be examining and solving these issues. (AGI) .
211802 FEB 04

VATICAN-RUSSIA, POPE MAY RENOUNCE UKRAINE PATRIARCHATE
(AGI) - The Vatican, Feb 21 - The long-distance dialogue between the Vatican and Moscow is becoming more likely. The confirmation of this comes from the latest news from a press statement released today by the Holy See about the mission that Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontiff's Council for the Unity of Christians is carrying out in Russia. Or rather, the possible renouncement of establishing a Greek-Catholic Patriarchate in the Ukraine, that Russia would have seen as an attempt by the Holy See to impose itself outside Rome on territory that traditionally belongs to the Russian Church.

And another confirmation comes from the fact that Pope John Paul II's envoy will put off his return to Rome for a couple of days because he is looking at the possibility of meeting the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, Alexis II, in Moscow on Monday when he returns to the Russian capital. In fact, Alexis II has been in Switzerland for the past few days for health reasons, due to which he had to cancel a scheduled meeting during the long and delicate phase of finalising the mission of the president of the Pontiff's Council for the Unity of Christians.

In fact, the lack of definite news on why this religious meeting between Patriarch Alexis II and the Pontiff's envoy didn't take place immediately suggested to commentators that there had been other signs of difficulty in the dialogue between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox church. The latter has continued to criticise the Holy See for years on account of the Pontiff's decision to establish the Catholic Church on former USSR territory, starting with the Ukraine.

There, the Holy Father's intention had been to establish a religious body that would also refer to Rome. Not only has Moscow been critical of the Patriarchate, but also, in the last few days, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Their head, Bartholomew I, had even written a desperate letter to Pope John Paul II, urging him not to establish a Greek-Catholic Patriarchate in the Ukraine. This institution had been the desire of the Uniates, the Greek-Catholic faithful who, in 1946, saw their Church being destroyed by Stalin, through acts by the so-called Synod of Leopold. With the reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachov, the Uniates were once again free to follow their own religion.

They demanded and got their religious buildings back, that the regime preceding Gorbachov's era had transferred to the Orthodox Church. However, this restitution deprived the Orthodox community of their own parishes. Raising new controversies. On the other hand, the contention in the Ukraine between the Greek-Catholics and the Orthodox was only a small part of the total sum of misunderstandings and injuries that had not been dealt with.

They had, up to then, prevented a real constructive dialogue between the Roman Church and the Church of Moscow, to the point of being the reason for the Patriarch Alexis II refusing to meet the Pope, either on Russian territory (by refusing to let Pope John Paul II on Russian territory) or in other places during ecumenical meetings to which the Orthodox Patriarch had been invited. Now, however, this is important news and signals a new era in the relations between the Vatican and the Russian Church, starting with the renunciation of establishing a Greek-Catholic Patriarchate in the Ukraine so as not to offend the sensitivities of the Orthodox Russians.

Up to now they have built a wall in any inter-religious dialogue in that part of Europe. And now the most onerous task will fall to the group formed to oversee this work, the members of whom are representatives of both the Churches. The group's objective is to formulate proposals for the solution to open questions in the relations between the Vatican and the Patriarchate of Moscow. (AGI) .

Originally posted by incognitus:
What, again? Rome should read its own history - and remember how many times they forbade the Greek-Catholics in Hungary to use Hungarian in the Liturgy.
Incognitus

Originally posted by ukrainiancatholic:
Why do we need approval because in theory, aren't we a self-governing church?