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6THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012No. 26The Ukrainian WeeklyThe saintly Metropolitan SheptytskyAs reported in several articles in May, the life and exemplary works ofMetropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (1865-1944) were honored in Canada and theUnited States thanks to a North American tour of Ukrainian religious leaders organizedby the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter. One of the goals of the trip that broughtOrthodox, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Evangelical and Muslim leaders to Toronto,Ottawa, Washington and New York was to support efforts seeking the beatificationof Metropolitan Sheptytsky by the Vatican and his recognition at Israel’s Yad Vashemas one of the Righteous Among Nations – a designation granted to gentiles whosaved the lives of Jews during the Holocaust.An extraordinary man, Sheptytsky was devoted to his Ukrainian faithful, defendingtheir religious, social and national interests without fail during a time of greatpolitical upheaval, including two world wars, in the western Ukrainian regionknown as Halychyna (Galicia). The saintly metropolitan also defended people ofother faiths and nationalities who lived on those Ukrainian lands, and was a force forharmony and reconciliation among ethnic and religious groups.His most courageous actions came at the time of the brutal Nazi occupation ofUkraine. Sheptytsky personally protected Jews in Ukraine and ordered his monasteries,convents and orphanages to hide hundreds of children from the Nazis. This“spiritual giant” – as Kurt Lewin, one of the children saved by the metropolitan,called him – protested against the destruction of Jews in Halychyna directly toHeinrich Himmler, informed the Vatican about what was happening in the regionunder the Nazi regime, and authored the historic pastoral letter “Thou Shalt NotKill,” in which he underscored the sanctity of human life and called on the faithful tonot participate in Nazi atrocities. The powerful video-documentary “Saved bySheptytsky,” prepared by Jurij Klufas specially for the UJE tour, presented the voicesof three Jews who as children were saved by the metropolitan; all argued stronglyfor his recognition by Yad Vashem. (This documentary should become widely availableto be utilized in the Holocaust and genocide curricula now in place in manyschool districts.)During a symposium in Ottawa, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the UkrainianGreek-Catholic Church underscored: “The courage that Sheptytsky displayed, duringa very dark night of Ukraine’s history, has universal significance. At the risk of hisown life, as well as the lives of his clergy and nuns, Sheptytsky sheltered hundreds ofJews during the Nazi Holocaust. He did so, knowing full well, that from the perspectiveof human calculation, this was shear folly. But he also knew that without such‘folly,’ life is absurd.” (The text of the patriarch’s remarks appears on page 7.)Thankfully, the cause for Andrey Sheptytsky’s beatification has progressed,according to Patriarch Sviatoslav, who told an audience in New York City that newdocumentation was recently presented to the Vatican about the miraculous healingof a person in the U.S. through Sheptytsky’s intercession. The patriarch asked forprayers for the metropolitan’s beatification.As regards recognition by Yad Vashem, we can only express our conviction that itshall come to pass. For surely Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, whose bravery iscited and whose cause is endorsed by Holocaust survivors and religious leaders ofall faiths, is already among the world’s Righteous.June271992Turning the pages back...Twenty years ago, on June 27, 1992, 11,815 people watchedas the Ukrainian National Team, in its first game abroad and itssecond international game ever as an independent team, playedto a 0-0 tie in an international friendly match against the U.S.World Cup team at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.“This was more than a game,” said coach Viktor Prokopenko. “We’ve been waiting forthis game for 90 years.”But it almost didn’t happen.“A decision was made by the Ukrainian Soccer Federation in Kyiv not to come becauseonly a few hours were left before the flight departure and there were still no visas,”explained Ihor Chyzowych, one of the lead organizers. “We had to act quickly to remedythe situation. From the United States, my brother Eugene called the Embassy inWashington and in Moscow, and from my side in Kyiv, I tried to convince the team not todisband,” he added.Mr. Prokopenko was interim coach for Ukraine’s team while regular coach ValeriyLobanovsky finished his coaching commitment in Egypt, with plans to return later thatsummer.The game had two scoring chances for Ukraine, one near the beginning and one nearthe end of the match, but Ukraine played a defensive game. The Chaika Ukrainian DanceEnsemble of Yonkers, N.Y., under the direction of Walter Yurcheniuk, performed duringthe half-time break.During a press conference after the match, Mr. Prokopenko said, “It was a tremendoussuccess for the Ukrainian team. This is the first time this team, which is made up of professionalplayers from Ukraine, played together as a team.”Coach Prokopenko explained that the team was delayed due to visa problems originatingfrom Moscow, which added to the team’s fatigue from jet lag. In addition, with theteam’s late arrival, they were unable to train for the match prior to the game, unlike theU.S. team, which had practiced at Rutgers Stadium all week. The U.S. Soccer Federationsubmitted an invitation to the team through the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, but the invitationwas not suitable for the type of visa required by U.S. immigration.(Continued on page 18)FOR THE RECORD: Ukraine in 2011Following are excerpts from the executivesummary of the Ukraine section of FreedomHouse’s report “Nations in Transit 2012.”The report covers democratic developmentin 29 countries from Central Europe toEurasia. Ukraine’s scores in five categories(electoral process, independent media,national democratic governance, judicialframework and independence, and corruption)of the seven covered by the reportdeclined in 2011. The full report on Ukrainemay be read at http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/2012/ukraine.Is there a third force...(Continued from page 2)occasions (see http://www.belarus-tv.by/eng/president.asp?id=66518 ).Plainly, the current structure is focusedon the security forces, among which theKGB is the most powerful. Yet, there is noofficial, unified government position onmany issues. Cabinet ministers are oftenchided for failure to show initiatives, meaningthat they are not always expected totake directions from above. Because of hisfrequent speeches and image of omnipresence,President Lukashenka is often perceivedas the sole determiner of state policy,despite the many contradictions in hisstatements. Certainly he has exceptionalpowers. Yet, the Belarusian state is run,essentially, by public servants, many ofwhom are not opposed to economicreforms. Though rarely in the public eye,this apolitical “third force” stands betweenthe more polarized players: the presidentand the opposition.In the past, when such figures have takenon a political role, the regime has dealt with• Ukraine’s democratic institutions andprocesses continued to deteriorate in 2011,moving the country toward authoritarianrule. Growing concentration of power inthe hands of the president was accompaniedby the politically motivated and selectiveuse of the judiciary to jail key leadersof the opposition.• Misuse of the judiciary became themain indication of a deteriorating politicallandscape in 2011, preventing free and fairpolitical competition. Criminal casesagainst the leaders of opposition…removed the most vocal opponents of thegovernment from active politics. …• President [Viktor] Yanukovych’s effortsto consolidate power and amass personalwealth for himself and his family continuedin 2011, undermining the legitimacy of hisregime at home and abroad. Despite thepresident’s avowed commitment to democraticprinciples, he continued to attack thesystem of checks and balances within government,diminishing the power of theParliament and political parties and theindependence of the Cabinet of Ministers.…The president’s actions during the yearsuggested that he was building a purelypersonalistic model of governance. …• The country’s growing authoritarianismhas not yet resulted in the direct targetingof nongovernmental organizations(NGOs) as such, though several civic activistsspent up to four months in jail for allegedlydamaging public property duringpolitical rallies in late 2010. In most casesthe government continued to engage in dialoguewith civil society in the establishedformats; hundreds of civic councils wereformed at different levels of government inaccordance with new regulations, but oftenNGOs reported only an “imitation” of publicparticipation in such bodies. …• … since 2010, coverage of politicallysensitive topics has taken on a more progovernmentbias at most of the televisionstations with national reach. Selfcensorshipis a visible phenomenon onnationwide channels, and many channelsnoticeably “depoliticized” their newsbroadcasting in 2011. Some signs of directgovernment pressure on media were evidentat the regional level, with three independenttelevision stations in Kharkivshutting down in August and September.Media watchdogs warned of physicalattacks against journalists, and digitalbroadcasting frequencies were distributedin 2011 in a way that favored media ownerswith government connections. …• …the year 2011 was characterized byconsolidation of local power hierarchies tothe advantage of the Yanukovych administration,with politically motivated appointmentsoccurring at all levels. Throughoutthe year, the responsibilities of the democraticallyelected mayor of Kyiv were performedby a presidential appointee,Oleksander Popov, who replaced MayorLeonid Chernovetskyi as head of the cityadministration in November 2010. …Theneed to show political loyalty to the centralleadership further hampered the activity oflocal authorities, alienating them from residentsof their regions. …• …“Administrative resources” areexpected to play a crucial role in parliamentaryelections scheduled for October2012, pushing Ukraine further back fromits democratic achievements. The law onelections adopted in 2011 will give the rulingParty of Regions a chance to win amajority in the next Parliament despite alevel of public support that does not exceed20-25 percent. The exclusion of oppositionleaders like [Yulia] Tymoshenko and [Yurii]Lutsenko will also raise questions as towhether the voting is free and fair. …them summarily and much more harshlythan with detained oppositionists, as thecases of the “disappeared” leaders ViktarHanchar and Yuri Zakharanka demonstrate.Mr. Hanchar was Mr. Lukashenka’s campaignmanager in 1994. But as DeputyChairman of the Parliament, he hademerged as a major and charismatic opponentfive years later during a time of constitutionalcrisis when Mr. Lukashenka refusedto hold presidential elections at the end ofhis first term. Hanchar was abducted onSeptember 16, 1999, together with hisfriend, the entrepreneur Anatol Krasouski.Mr. Zakharanka was dismissed as ministerof defense and had joined the oppositionUnited Civil Party prior to his disappearancein 1999.Both former regime insiders are presumeddead. The two figures had come outopenly into the opposition.Today one can assume that there aredozens of personnel following the orders ofthe president, but it does not necessarilyindicate that they are his supporters or inagreement with his policies. The loyal coteriearound the leader is much smaller thanit appears even if, for the present, it is politicallyinert.TO OUR READERSNext week’s issue of The Ukrainian Weekly will be a double issue (Nos. 27 and28) dated July 1-July 8. A single issue will be printed for those weeks due to theIndependence Day holiday in the United States.
No. 26THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 20127SYMPOSIUM ADDRESSPatriarch Sviatoslav on Metropolitan Andrey SheptytskyFollowing is the text of the address byPatriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk delivered onApril 25 at the symposium titled “HonoringAndrey Sheptytsky: Ethical Action inExtreme Conditions” that was held at theSheptytsky Institute of Eastern ChristianStudies at St. Paul University in Ottawa.What an appropriate place to honor mypredecessor, Metropolitan AndreySheptytsky. The Sheptytsky Institute ofEastern Christian Studies here at St. PaulUniversity symbolizes the task of reconciliationundertaken by the great metropolitanthroughout his lifetime.As a former student of the SheptytskyInstitute’s summer program, it gives meparticular pleasure to greet the Institute’sfounding director, Father Andriy Chirovsky,and all of his collaborators.It is also a blessing to be here with mycolleagues from Ukraine, in particular,Chief Rabbi Yaakov Bleich. Rabbi Bleich hasbeen outstandingly zealous in extollingSheptytsky’s heroism during the NaziHolocaust. For this, I thank him most sincerely.The Ukrainian delegation you see herebefore you today, is supported by a greatUkrainian Canadian, James Temerty, a sonof the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He hasbrought together Jews, Muslims, as well asProtestant, Roman Catholic, Greek-Catholicand Orthodox Christians. He has broughtthem together to revere a model of courage,the late Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky.The courage that Sheptytsky displayed,during a very dark night of Ukraine’s history,has universal significance. At the risk ofhis own life, as well as the lives of his clergyand nuns, Sheptytsky sheltered hundreds ofJews during the Nazi Holocaust. He did so,knowing full well that from the perspectiveof human calculation, this was shear folly.But he also knew that, without such “folly,”life is absurd.That kind of “folly” is as important todayas then. For the true good of humanityevery generation must be willing to gobeyond human calculation, and embracesacrificial love – a love that respects all life –from conception to natural death.Among the Jewish boys saved bySheptytsky was the son of the chief rabbi ofLviv, Kurt Lewin. (Lewin’s father was murderedby the Nazis.)In his memoirs, published in 1994, KurtLewin wrote the following: “The compassthat guided me all these years [of my life]was the memory of the encounter withMetropolitan Andrew Graf Szeptycki andhis brother Clement, the two spiritual giantswho by their example charted a course formany. The efforts of their lifetimes seemedto be destroyed at the end of their journeythrough life. [But] time has shown that theseeds they sowed resulted in a rich andrewarding harvest.”My brothers and sisters, among the fruitsof that harvest is this very delegation. Werepresent millions of individuals who intheir worst moments – like all humans –might bow to hatred or intolerance. But ourUkrainian delegation is here together today– and most importantly in Ukraine – to insistthat we, their leaders, reject such attitudes.With the survivors of the Holocaust we proclaim:“Never again.” And we pray thatUkraine, and all nations, might rid themselvesof anti-Semitism once and for all.We also proclaim a resounding “no” tothe ideology and mentality that engineeredthe Genocide-Famine of Ukraine. ThatFamine of 1932-1933, and the NaziHolocaust – along with the ideologies ofCommunism and Nazism that drove them –At the risk of his ownlife, as well as thelives of his clergy andnuns, MetropolitanAndrey Sheptytskysheltered hundredsof Jews during theNazi Holocaust.has left wounds on our souls. By God’sgrace, however, the scars of these woundsmend every time gatherings such as ourUkrainian Jewish Encounter take place. Andby God’s grace it is Sheptytsky’s compassthat guides each encounter.In the few minutes that remain, allow meto turn more directly to the topic, “EthicalAction in Extreme Conditions.”As a former professor of moral theology,there are several themes that I would haveliked to develop today – had time permitted.For example, our focus on ethical behaviorin a former era should lead us to reflect onthe problem of moral escapism, that is, howour indignation about the past, unfortunatelydoes not always translate into ethicalbehaviour today.Also, Sheptytsky’s unbending principlesin extreme conditions could lead us to afruitful reflection on the continued relevanceof moral absolutes – again, a verytimely topic.However, in the several minutes allottedme, allow me to dwell on a theme that is notonly more basic, but also manageable insuch a brief address.I begin with a quotation fromSheptytsky’s 1901 Pastoral Letter, “TheGreatest Commandment.” Sheptytsky’swords are disarmingly simple. In fact, someoneunfamiliar with Sheptytsky’s intellectmight be inclined to view them as pietistic.These words read:“A lack of love is the source of every hardshipand misery. Every person has a right tobe loved, has a right to experience love fromall people. And an injustice is inflicted on aperson when they experience too little of it.”From the pen of another person, thesewords might not even merit citation. Butthis person was different. In 1990,Sheptytsky was described by EricGoldhagen, lecturer in Jewish studies atHarvard University, and author of theIntroduction to David Kahane’s “LvovGhetto Diary,” in the following words:“No other ecclesiastical figure of equalrank in the whole of Europe displayed suchsorrow for the fate of the Jews and acted soboldly on their behalf.”It’s amazing, then, that many people havenever heard of Sheptytsky.And note the words “sorrow” and“action.” We might then paraphraseSheptytsky’s text above in the followingmanner: “A lack of sorrow for the sufferingof others, and a lack of action on theirbehalf, is the source of every hardship andmisery.”But Sheptytsky insists that every personhas a right to such compassion and actionfrom us. He asserts that it is even an injusticewhen someone experiences too little ofthem. That, I would insist, is a real “rightsrevolution.” It is truly revolutionary becauseit requires us to overturn everything wenormally associate with “rights.” One cannotlegislate compassion. One cannot enforce“entitlements” to love.And so to understand Sheptytsky’sthinking – and, more importantly, his heroicbehavior – we have to turn to another of hispronouncements, this one written at theheight of the Nazi occupation of Ukraine.The paradox may surprise you.Sheptytsky wrote this to his clergy, whowere participating in a wartime archdiocesancouncil over which he presided:“During the entire year of our council’sdeliberations we have been concernedexclusively with God’s rights. I purposelysay ‘with God’s rights’ and not ‘laws,’ inother words, with that which is His due, notbecause God demands this, but as a consequenceof what God is in Himself, onaccount of His infinite nature. We have concernedourselves with the rights of the mosthigh God […] as though we ourselves hadnever existed on the face of the earth.”Amazing! The man who did so much tohelp those being ground into the face – andmud – of the earth, in other words, the manwho was so radically people-centered,insisted on the need to remain Godcentered.This is because compassion cannotbe legislated. And so, the only way toconsistently achieve it, is through innercommunion with the living God. Accordingto his personal spiritual diary, one that hecertainly never expected to be discovered,Sheptytsky tried to spend eight hours a dayin prayer – in union with God’s infiniteNature. (Yes, he would rise for prayer at 3 inthe morning.)If time had permitted, I would have likedto deal with objections from those today,who so frequently presume that talk of Godleads to division and strife. Certainly, it isonly the living God, not an idol, who healsUCCA condemnsthe “Law on Languages”Below is the text of a statementreleased on June 12 by the UkrainianCongress Committee of America in reactionto Ukraine’s proposed new law onlanguages.The Ukrainian Congress Committee ofAmerica (UCCA), the representative organizationof over 1 million Americans ofUkrainian descent, calls upon the internationalcommunity to join the UCCA instrongly condemning the June 5, 2012,passage of Law No. 9073, the “Law onLanguages,” in the first reading.Sponsored by National Deputies SerhiiKivalov and Vadym Kolesnichenko, the“Law on Languages” de facto allows forthe colonialist Russian language to notsimply become a second official state languagein Ukraine, contradicting Ukraine’sown Constitution, but more significantly,lays the groundwork for a new, ethnicallybased system of apartheid against theUkrainian people in their own country,one which has been reincorporated intothe Putinesque neo-colonial “Russkii Mir.”Several weeks ago, the RussianFederation denied the registration ofUkrainian organizations and schoolswithin its own borders. In the RussianFederation, the Ukrainian language, customs,culture and people are underattack, and now, in Ukraine, the same isoccurring. For centuries, the Ukrainianpeople struggled to maintain their languageand identity within the tsarist, thenSoviet Russian empires. The post-colonialchallenges of rebuilding and healing thebrutalized Ukrainian people have beenand brings peace.But I will have to end with a quotationfrom the Orthodox theologian, PaulEvdokimov, about whom I wrote my owndoctoral dissertation.In 1966, Evdokimov said: “To exist is toparticipate in being or in nothingness. Mancan make of himself ‘an icon of God,’ or hecan become a demoníacal grimace, an apeof God… Man can revive the flame of love, orthe fire of Gehenna. He can convert his ‘yes’into an infinity of unions; he can also by his‘no’ break his being into infernal separationsand solitudes.”In the face of demoníacal Nazi grimaces,Sheptytsky saved hundreds from Gehenniclikefires. He was indeed an icon of God,committed to an infinity of human unions –between Jews and Christians, betweenOrthodox, Catholics and Protestants (and ifhe had lived today: between Muslims andall of these) because of his love for the infinitenature of God.Allow me to conclude with the words ofone of Sheptytsky’s priests, Omelian Kovch.Father Kovch was a married priest with sixchildren. He died in the Majdanek concentrationcamp after being arrested for shelteringJews. Before his death in 1944 hewrote the following: “Here [in the camp] weare all equal: Poles, Jews, Ukrainians,Russians, Latvians and Estonians…Here Isee God, who is the same for everyone,regardless of the religious distinctions thatexist among us.”My brothers and sisters: May that oneGod always inspire all of us with a sacrificiallove worthy of God’s life-giving unity.Thank you for your attention.significant, yet, after 20 years of independence,the process of renewal had begun.Now, the Yanukovych regime and thequisling Parliament in Ukraine are activelypromoting Vladimir Putin’s neo-colonial,Ukrainophobic agenda and is pursuingethnocidal policies against theUkrainian people, deliberately sowingconflict while attempting to artificiallydivide Ukraine.The continued expansion of Putin’s“Russkii Mir” and the potential of a resultantconflict of significant proportionscannot remain outside the attention of theWestern alliance, if only out of self-interest.However, as democracies, Westerngovernments must not ignore the continuedassaults against the human andnational rights of the Ukrainian people.The Ukrainian Congress Committee ofAmerica and its membership urgePresident Barack Obama and the UnitedStates Congress to disallow the admittanceinto the United States of those representativesof the Yanukovych and Putinregimes responsible for the abuses of thehuman rights of the Ukrainian people.Furthermore, we urge President Obamato encourage our allies to follow suit.Human dignity and national identity arerights that must not be ignored.The UCCA salutes the brave citizens ofUkraine who continue to defend theirconstitutional right to use their nativelanguage in all spheres of public life, andcalls on all Ukrainians who value theirunique national culture and heritage tovehemently protest this attack on theUkrainian language.
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