Scottish Catholic Observer

The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said he had been consoled by Pope Francis’ tenderness after he expressed the disappointment of Ukrainians at a joint declaration signed by the Pope and the Russian Orthodox patriarch.

The Pope’s latest remarks were ‘truly the opening of the doors of mercy,’ according to Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow (above) had signed a joint declaration in Cuba on February 12. However the next day, the archbishop said his people were ‘deeply disappointed’ at how it referred to the war in Eastern Ukraine and on the identity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Responding to a reporter’s questions about the archbishop’s critique, Pope Francis said everyone has a right to his or her own opinions about the declaration and the archbishop’s criticisms must be read in light of the experience of Ukrainian Catholics. But the Pope also spoke about how his friendship with Archbishop Shevchuk—that began when they were both ministering in Buenos Aires, Argentina—and how the archbishop had given him an icon of Our Lady of Tenderness, which is one of the few things he asked to have brought to the Vatican after his election in 2013.

Mentioning their friendship the icon and the dispute, theArchbishop Shevchuk said, ‘he is inviting us to lower our voices. You cannot have a dialogue shouting.’ In an interview with Catholic News Service yesterday, The archbishop added that he was pleased that even for the pope, the declaration ‘is not the word of God, it is not a page of the Holy Gospel,’ but rather offers indications for discussion. The archbishop said that when the pope-patriarch meeting was first announced, ‘my spontaneous reaction was, ‘finally,’ and I was pleased that Pope Francis repeated almost the same when he embraced Patriarch Kirill’ in Havana.

“I think that the very gesture is sacred—we are supposed to meet, we are supposed to talk, but that meeting is only a tool to start true, sincere dialogue,” the archbishop said.

The desire for mutual respect and closer cooperation among Catholics and Orthodox in Ukraine is not in question, he said, but the declaration’s depiction of the situation in Eastern Ukraine and the terminology used to describe the Ukrainian Catholic Church are.

In encouraging an end to tensions between Orthodox and Eastern-rite Catholics, the declaration referred to the churches that are in full union with Rome as ‘ecclesial communities,’ a phrase usually used to designate communities the Catholic Church believes are lacking valid sacraments and apostolic succession. Yet, clearly, as part of the Catholic Church that does not apply to Ukrainian Catholics, he said. The other problem with the declaration, the archbishop said, is how it seems to hint that the war in Eastern Ukraine is a civil war and not one involving both Russian troops and Russian support.

The declaration invited ‘all sides involved in the conflict to prudence, to social solidarity and to action aimed at constructing peace.’ The Pope and patriarch also said: “We invite our churches in Ukraine to work toward social harmony, to refrain from taking part in the confrontation and to not support any further development of the conflict.”

— Hugh McLoughlin looks at the Russia, Ukraine diplomatic minefield for Pope Francis in this week’s SCO, in parishes on Friday February 26.

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