www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Consecration of Bishop Ladislav Hucko

Photos of the Consecration can be found here:

http://www.gojdic.sk/sablona.php?p=./html/foto/2003/f_Praha2003_1.php

It would have been a better event if they were in a Byzantine Church.

This is an interesting subject and pertinent to the identity of the church in today's Czech and Slovak republics. Thanks to Lemko Rusyn for the article linked about the "Ukrainian protestation" of this event. Unfortunately, without a translation from the Slovak, it is difficult to get the exact "gist" of what transpired. As much as some of our people like to call "po-nashomu" "Slovak" and despite numerous similarities, there is nothing close to a justification for mistaking the two languages. Was this not a concern of Blessed Bishop Paul Peter Goidich and Bishop Basil Hopko, that the hierarchy and clergy of the Prjashev Eparchy be allowed to continue to address their faithful in the Rusyn vernacular?

Had the article been in Rusyn or Ukrainian, more of us here would be able to understand the situation. Is anyone aware of either an English or Ukrainian account of what happened? If so, please direct us to it. Perhaps this very factor is something to take into account when considering what some of the concerns are behind the Ukrainian demonstrations.

It is important to remember that, agreed or disagreed, many Ukrainians today consider Greek Catholics in the Prjashev and assumedly the Czech regions, to be the equivalent of today's version of "ethnic Ukrainians," which is their term to refer to the original Rusyn inhabitants of the area. Also important to remember is that to some, Ukrainian has become simply a modern way of referring to those whose heritage is in the Land of Rus', without any mal intent towards the Rusyn identity and that Ukrainian only became an accepted definitive term towards the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th. centuries. The progression of the acceptance of this definitive term took root much easier in some regions than in others, as for instance, in Carpathian Rus' which was under an intense program of Madgarization during much of its modern history and whose government was vehemently opposed to the development of a "Ukrainian consciousness." While Hungarian was the preferred identity to be promoted, Budapest actually preferred the more "Pan-Slavic" Russian movement popular in some circles over the Ukrainian development, the former of which it saw as less threatening due to the more "general" Slavic characteristics it promoted rather than the more particular culture of "South-central" and/or "Kyivan" Rus' of the Ukrainian movement.

To me, religion has always been a determining factor: Greek Catholic or Orthodox=Rusyn/Ukrainian; Roman Catholic=Slovak or Czech, although I realize that this is not an exhaustive definition. I think this can apply in the same way also to other regions, such as Eastern Poland - in Lemkivchina and also in Croatia (although the Krizevtsi Eparchy would also include an amount of people descending from what could once have been considered ethnic Serbs and who formed a "unia" at Marcha when the area became part of the Hungarian Empire. This was prior to the significant emigration of Rusyns from Galicia and other areas which then further populated the Croatian eparchy.) and Hungary itself. Again, I qualify that this comparison may not be considered by everyone to be all inclusive.

God bless you all,

Fr. Joe

Very interesting, Fr. Joe.

Was it not also true that before 1917 that Ukrainianization in Rusyn lands was also associated with secular, left wing movements and condemned by the Church and State for that reason? (oddly, history later reversed itself where Ukrainianization was seen as a counter to Soviet Russification).

Axios

Dear Friends,

Unfortunately I can't provide links in Ukrainian or English. But for those who can understand Czech here are some links that show that the opposition to the new bishop is not limited to Ukrainians.

http://www.katolikrevue.cz/fronda/otevreny_dopis_unie.htm
http://www.katolikrevue.cz/fronda/glosa_k_jmenovani_noveho_biskupa_unie.htm

This is not new information per se but it seems that now it would be interesting to this board. I hope someone profits from this information.

Tony

Well even with (tranexp) help, I am still missing your point Tony. Who else?

"Celkovy pocet Ukrajincu mezi reckokatoliky v CR obnasi asi 95%"
Really?

Sorry, I don't have time to translate the article I posted a link to. (I'm not the only one here who could do it, however.)

Clearly, there is a well-organized Ukrainian community in Prague and a good number of them are observant Greek Catholics. These are more recent arrivals (post-WWII, mostly) and are from Halychyna as opposed to the pre-WWII Greek Catholic settlement which was largely from Podkarpatska Rus' (then part of the first Czechoslovak Republic).

The atmosphere at the Cathedral Church of St. Clement has been predominantly Ukrainian when I've been there, except for the recently-retired Exarch, Bishop Ivan Ljavynec who is a strong Rusyn patriot. The parish bulletin is in Ukrainian, not Czech, Slovak or Rusyn, and most homilies and readings are given in Ukrainian. (A local Basilian Sister originally from Bardejov, Slovakia insisted on speaking to me in Ukrainian even though I spoke Rusyn to her for 15 minutes straight.)

It is not surprising that the local Ukrainian community is reluctant to accept a bishop who is not their own and denigrate him as a "Slovak Roman Catholic", which he clearly is not (his father was a Greek Catholic priest in Presov).

The Prague Exarchate has a Web site, by the way, where you can also read the St. Clement's parish bulletin, Jedinym serdcem:
http://www.exarchat.cz