www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Ruthenian?

Does he actually have, or know the location of, a complete copy of the original Agreement of Union?

The archives of the Diocese of Eger. I post it when I have time to type it up.

A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.

– Confucius, Analects, XIII, 3,

Father,

But your words were incorrect, Fr. Lacko did find the document.

Not "started", but formalizing modern relations between the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Rome. The Kyivan Metropolia (as well as that of Halych) are much older than 1596.

"Split" would be a good word. Before there was one Kyivan Metropolitan Church, afterwards there were two. In the same way, prior to 1724, all members of the Chalcedonian Patriarchate of Antioch were "Melkites" (or "Melchites", in the charming 19th century orthography), and afterwards there were two. We must constantly be aware that the birth of most of the so-called "uniate" Churches involved the act of schism.

Ruthenia does indeed exist - it is about 8 miles north of Birdtail, Manitoba and about 15 or so miles from Rossburn, Manitoba. The parish is served from Rossburn, MB and is a Manitoba Heritage Site.

Ruthenia was also a ship of the Canadian Pacific Line.

"Split" actually is not a good word. As Archpriest Andriy Chirovsky has pointed out, there were several divisions in the Kyivan Church well before the Union of Brest (the abdication of Maxim from Kyiv to create another Metropolitanate, the eventual establishment of the Metropolitanate of Halych, etc.) and "split" doesn't really do justice to a very complex history. I will defer to Fr. Borys Gudziak's interpretation of which I have paraphrased (i.e. "formalizing relations with Rome").

Assuming for the sake of discussion that Fr. Michael actually did have some official document to work from, there is somewhat of a difficulty in that no official bull from Rome was issued to proclaim the Union, as was the case for the Union of Brest with both Benedictus sit Pastor ille bonus and Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis.

If the document from Fr. Michael is assumed to be legitimate, the guarantees to the signatories only extend to three conditions - namely:



The additional spiritual, liturgical, and ecclesiastical conditions of the Union of Brest are not implicitly or explicitly requested in the Union of Uzhorod (again assuming Fr. Michael's text to be authoratative).

Specific conditions given in the Union of Brest included the issue of the Filioque and the general acceptance to retain "with that which was handed down to us in the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel, and in the writings of the holy Greek Doctors", the integrity of the Divine Services - "That the divine worship and all prayers and services of Orthros, Vespers, and the night services shall remain intact (without any change at all) for us according to the ancient custom of the Eastern Church..."; "That the Mysteries of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ should be retained entirely as we have been accustomed until now, under the species of bread and wine; that this should remain among us eternally the same and unchangeable..." and even "That the marriages of priests remain intact, except for bigamists".

The ambiguity of the "Union of Uzhorod" would (by the exact letter of the very ambiguous document) not seem to proclude mandatory celibacy of clergy, liturgical changes (as long as the "greek rite" is maintained) and other difficulties. The actual text of the "Union of Uzhorod" would seem to fail to procure or even reference the acceptance of the much more explicit and detailed conditions given in the precedental Union of Brest.

One can claim centuries later that this or that was understood at the time, but the signatories are long gone and the document in general is extremely weak and ambiguous.

There is also a chemical element called Ruthenium. I have no idea what it is or what it might be used for.

No, the Union of Brest did not "start the Ukrainian Catholic Church" (that term was unknown to the Fathers of Brest and nowhere appears in the documents of the Union) or any other Church. To restore full eucharistic relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Kyiv-Halych and all Rus' does not start some new religious judicatory. Again, nothing in the documents of the Union indicates that starting some new church is not in question.

Fr. Serge

The document of the Union of Uzhorod as translated by Fr. Michael Lacko from the document in the archives of the Apostolic Nunciature in Vienna and compared with the same document in the archives of the diocese of Eger.

By the grace of Christ, elected most holy Father and universal Patriarch.
We priest of the holy Greek rite, inhabitants of the noble and apostolic kingdom of Hungary, situated through the Districts specified with our signature, realizing that the sacrament of the king is to be hidden, but that the works of God are to be revealed and to be shown to all peoples more clearly than the sun, seeing that they are such that through them the ineffable goodness and clemency of our most merciful God towards rational creatures is wont to be made manifest. According to this principle and angelic rule we declare to Your Holiness, we preach and we lift up to the heavens with titles of most devout praise before the whole world. What is that[that we declare]? The grace of our God and Saviour freely poured out among us, by which working in us and foretelling most lovingly the salvation of our souls, we, having abandoned and driven from our hearts the Greek schism, are restored and affianced again to the Immaculate Virgin Spouse of the Only-begotten Son of God, that is the holy Roman Church, hitherto abominated by us and held in hatred without any cause. This same return of ours, indeed, was accomplished in the year of salvation one thousand six hundred and forty-six, on the twenty-fourth day of April, while Ferdinand III the most sacred Emperor of the Romans was ruling, in the Latin castle-church of Uzhorod situated on the estate of the most illustrious Count George of Humenne, in the fashion:
The bishop of Munkach, Basil Tarasovic, who has already departed this life, when, following the party that was both schismatical as well as heretical, he had broken the bond of holy Union, publicly abandoned the Catholic Church. The Venerable father in Christ, George Jakusic, bishop of Eger, now resting in Christ, considering this, having with him the Reverend Basilian Fathers summoned for this purpose , Father Peter Parthenius who today is our bishop, and Father Gabriel Kosovicky, most courteously invited us by letter to uzhorod, and after a seasonable discourse from the aforesaid Fathers about holy Union, he accomplished, with the Holy Spirit disposing us for it, what he purposed, and appointed the day dedicated to St. George the Martyr for making the profession of faith.
On that day we sixty-three priests came together and followed the aforementioned most Reverend bishop of Eger to the church named above. So after the enactment of the mystery of the bloodless sacrifice performed in our Ruthenian tongue, and after the sacramental expiation of their sins by some of the priests, we pronounced the profession of faith in an audible voice according to the prescribed formula, namely:
We believe all and everything that our Holy Mother the Roman Church bids us believe. We acknowledge that the most holy Father Innocent X is the universal Pastor of the Church of Christ and our Pastor, and we with our successors desire and wish to depend on him in everything; with however, the addition of these conditions:

First: That it be permitted to us to retain the rite of the Greek Church;
Second: To have a bishop elected by ourselves and confirmed by the [Roman] Apostolic See;
Third: To have the free enjoyment of ecclesiastical immunities.

To these the most Reverend bishop accede without difficulty. The whole of this, too, the most Illustrious Benedict Kisdi, Bishop of Eger, with his Vicar General, and the Reverend Father Thomas Jaszbereny, religious of the Society of Jesus, being present, ratified in the year one thousand six hundred and forty-eight. This business of ours received very great support from the paternal solicitude both of the most Illustrious and Mot Reverend Primate of Hungary George Lippay, archbishop of Esztergom, twice invoked by us through a mission undertaken by aforesaid Reverend Basilian Fathers, and of the Most Reverend bishop of Vacz Matthias Tarnoczy also, to both of whom we are for ever obliged.
Bringing these events before the notice of Your holiness we unanimously and humbly beg Your paternal benediction, the advance of our cause and the confirmation of the Most reverend Peter Parthenius elected by us as bishop.
In Uzhorod, the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-two, the fifteenth day of January.
The Most humble servants of Your Holiness, priest of the Greek rite,
Alexius Ladomersky, archdeacon of Makovica
Stephen Andrejov, archdeacon of Spis
Gregory Hostovicky, archdeacon of Humenne
Stephen, archdeacon of Seredne
Daniel Ivanovic, archdeacon of Uz
Alexius Filipovic, archdeacon of Stropkov

There is also a chemical element called Ruthenium. I have no idea what it is or what it might be used for.

No, the Union of Brest did not "start the Ukrainian Catholic Church" (that term was unknown to the Fathers of Brest and nowhere appears in the documents of the Union) or any other Church. To restore full eucharistic relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Kyiv-Halych and all Rus' does not start some new religious judicatory. Again, nothing in the documents of the Union indicates that starting some new church is not in question.

Fr. Serge

I knew somebody would jump on 'started the Ukrainian Catholic Church'. Of course I knew the dioceses involved weren't started in 1596 and remember the name Ukrainian Catholic Church seems a 20th-century invention but I thought a long explanation would have been too awkward and ISTM a new religious judicatory made of old dioceses is what was founded at Brest-Litovsk.

Well, I seem to have won the race to jump on the name "Ukrainian Catholic Church" (in Ukraine that term refers to Roman Catholics in Ukraine). Thank you!

And again, the Union of Brest did not itself start a new judicatory. What did that was the legal recognition several decades later of a separate Orthodox Church of Kyiv-Halych, and many of the institutions of this new judicatory came in place only in the twentieth century.

One might compare this to the recent re-establishment of Communion between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate. This was certainly a momentous event, and involved signing an Act documenting various aspects of the relationship between the two, but it did not establish a new judicatory.

Or the Union of Florence - which contained no provision for any new judicatory.

In an effort to return to topic, I might point out that there is not and never has been any judicatory calling itself the "Ruthenian Orthodox Church"!

Fr. Serge

More or less the same part of Canada where one finds Ruthenia also includes a place called "Keleher", with its very own Greek-Catholic Church! Canada is a magical land indeed - I'm waiting for someone to found "Brigadoon".

Fr. Serge