Ukrainian Orthodoxy Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Relations Between the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches

Question: 

Firstly, I want to tell you how much I enjoy your website and that I refer to it often. I am a Ukrainian Catholic and have come across a few articles posted on your website relating to the eastern-rite Catholic church and the idea of returning/re-uniting to the mother Orthodox church from where we came. I find these articles most interesting and agree with the viewpoints posted. Personally, I would have no objection to returning to the Orthodox church. I have a very difficult time accepting the dogma of Papal Infallibility (as do many Catholics I suspect), indulgences, purgatory, as well as other Roman imposed dogmas. Numerous incidents in history have proven the horrible treatment of eastern-rite Catholics by the Roman rite church, the treatment of those Ukrainian Catholics who settled in North America in the late 1800's and early 1900's as being looked at as less than fully Catholic because they were of the Byzantine rite and not of the Latin rite come to mind. I find it interesting that even to this day, many Roman Catholics think that the Ukrainian Catholic liturgy is the identical liturgy as in the Roman church, but said/sung in Ukrainian. I'm curious to know that if relations between the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox church in Canada have improved over the past years? Has a Divine Liturgy ever been con-celebrated with priests from both churches? If not, could you see a day when this might become a reality? Thanks very much.
Answer:  

Very Rev. Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org 

Thank God, the relations between these two Churches, branches of Christ's Vineyard (and so, paradoxically, THAT Vineyard ITSELF!) have indeed improved over the years. We used to struggle to get churches away from one another. We clergy used to not be able to sit at the same table with each other. That is no longer the case. Sharing and fellowship is going on on a great many levels.

The most important is, alas, not yet achieved. We *cannot* yet con-celebrate the Liturgy (I have heard of such things done in the furnaces of the war - but things are much cooler now - hmm, maybe that is one reason why God permits wars - because some good does come out of them?). However, to say that such a thing could *never* be, on the other hand, would be to limit Christ.

It is after all the Mystery of His Body and His Blood that we, Orthodox and Catholics, celebrate. And if we truly do, then in a mysterious but *real* way we *do* in fact celebrate together even if the space/time manifestation of it does not coincide. The joyful hope is that one day such celebrations *will* in fact so coincide. But such hopes are not quickly or easily achieved -there *are* important reasons we do not yet concelebrate Liturgies. Chief among these is that for the Orthodox the Eucharist is the highest expression of unity, and it presupposes a unanimity of doctrinal vision between Catholics and Orthodox that we do not seem to have reached at this point in space/time.

But there *are* things we can do about this state of affairs. Above all we must keep on seeking the Lord and prepare the way in our hearts for that blessed day for our faith in our One Shepherd, our Sweetest Lord Jesus, tells us that it *will* finally come.