The aftermath of the Pope's Ukrainian tour:
Moscow's moral defeat

What became increasingly obvious toward the end of the papal visit to Ukraine was that the main issues that occupied western journalists had less to do with Catholic concerns than they did with Orthodox ones.  The Moscow Patriarch seemed to be portrayed as the "odd man out," sulking in a corner of his jurisdiction somewhere. Patriarch Alexey was not happy. The Ukrainian Orthodox Churches intelligently made public their intention to seek full communion with each other.  Patriarch Filaret made an excellent presentation of his goals of a united Ukrainian Church before the Pope and the world.  Patriarch Alexey was not happy  . . . 

The papal tour was billed as a "pastoral visit."  Of course, politics will always expand the impact and significance of any pastoral activity in this regard!

And, once again, Patriarch Filaret demonstrated his uncanny public relations expertise in seizing upon an opportunity to have the ear of a pope, no less, amidst a sea of western journalists just looking for a controversial angle to write about.

The Patriarch underlined his leadership of a "united" Ukrainian Orthodox Church and repeated that "buzz word" several times.  He seems right "in there" with modern communications technology, sound bytes and all!

Then came his "Catholics and Orthodox - living together."  The pope's speechwriters could do no better.

For a while, it seemed that the Vatican managers that accompanied the pope had forgotten the real reason they were in Ukraine to begin with - trying to get a foot in the door of the Moscow patriarch's palace.

Moscow's organized protests before and during the papal visit seemed pathetic.  How different the two peoples, the Ukrainians and the Russians seemed to the papal entourage and, through them, to the world.  "One people" indeed!  Not by a long shot . . .

One could hear reporters tell the Vatican officials, "But the Russian patriarch this, but the Russian patriarch that . . ."

And this became too much for one Cardinal, realizing that the doors to Moscow may indeed be closed to Rome.  "We've come to visit the Ukrainians, not the Russians," he said.

Initial disappointment at the turnout of people in Kyiv soon came to be informed as to why - the government was trying to keep people off the streets and had been telling them to stay at home. 

The pope came to visit a free Ukraine, yes.  But it is a Ukraine where the Moscow Patriarchate still controls Ukraine's great shrines like St Sophia and the Kyivan Caves Lavra.

The Ukrainians who were interviewed seemed to have taken an instant liking to their famous visitor.  His cultured manners and courteous behaviour were among the qualities that the Ukrainians admired about the pope.

Russian reaction was swift, at least in some papers.  They remarked with alarm that the three churches of the "Kievan tradition" were in collusion, they said, to break Ukraine away from Moscow and then squeeze out of Ukraine the remaining Moscow Patriarchate parishes.   And they say this as if it were a bad thing!

These churches included not only the two Orthodox jurisdictions, but also the Greek Catholic Church.

Just as the term "schismatic" was formerly used by Poland to describe Ukrainian Catholics as well as Orthodox, so too now "uniate" is used by the Russians to describe Ukrainians, Catholic and Orthodox.

Clearly, Patriarch Filaret has won a decisive public relations coup over Moscow.  This won't go unnoticed by the rest of world Orthodoxy.  The Russian Patriarch has done nothing to promote a good reputation for Orthodoxy in the West.

If anything, he appears as an anachronistic, authoritarian leader who is resistant to change of any kind while being in favour of continued Russian hegemony over the church affairs of countries in whom Russian imperialism has already set like the sun.

Even the Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Patriarch Lubomyr Husar, made statements to the effect that his Church would want to belong to the new "United Ukrainian Orthodox Church" if that Church would have "relations with Rome" however he intended that to mean.

This clearly upset some Ukrainian Catholic Churchmen in the West, such as Metropolitan Sulyk, who was quick to criticize his own Patriarch.

It is said that whenever one is criticized, one must be doing something right!

The Russian take on the situation is correct, however.

There is no doubt but that Ukrainian Orthodoxy in Ukraine will be looking westward for support of its unity and autocephalous existence not only at Rome, but throughout Europe and North America as well.

There is also no doubt that there will be much Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox collaboration, to be sure.

There is also no doubt that the days of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine are numbered.

The Russians are absolutely correct in all this.  They are no fools.  It is just that their Patriarch has shot himself in the "ryasa" and may not be able to recover from it for some time . . .

A major historical problem for the Ukrainian Churches has been their insularity and ghetto-like existence, even after years of Ukrainian immigration to the West.

The West simply does not know enough about Ukraine and its political issues.  The Church situation promises to unfold in the coming months making for exciting times.  

That situation will also provide the best possible education in Ukrainian affairs for the West.

Even the Vatican, that normally prides itself on its grasp of world affairs and understands the fundamental difference between hospitable and inhospitable attitudes toward the Pope, has come to realize the European character of the Ukrainians versus the insular and triumphalist attitudes of the Russians.

The Pope felt at home in Ukraine, especially in Lviv, which is the centre for three separate Catholic Churches:  Ukrainian, Roman and Armenian.  The Pope celebrated Mass in the Latin Rite, but he did it in the Ukrainian language.  His Ukrainian was better, it was noted, than that of many Ukrainian government officials. 

Ukraine will make itself heard more loudly in the nearby future as it forges new and stronger social, cultural, political and even religious links with the West.

Both the Slavic Pope and the Ukrainians felt a chillingly cold wind blow toward them from the northeast.  They both must have shuddered as thoughts of Siberia inevitably came to mind.

Dr. Alexander Roman  alex@unicorne.org