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_WORLD WATCH______________________________
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Catholic-Orthodox relations in focus
Ad limina meeting with Russian bishops
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Moscow led a delegation of Russian bishops making their ad limina visit to Rome early in February. He was accompanied by the three other bishops who serve as apostolic administrators in the Russian Federation: Bishops Clemens Pickel of Saratov, Joseph Werth of Novosibersk, and Jerzy Masur of Irkutsk, who are responsible for central Russia, western Siberia, and eastern Siberia respectively. (Archbishop Kondrusiewicz is charged with the pastoral care of Catholics in European Russia.)
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, speaking for the Russian Catholic hierarchy, asked “pardon for our errors,” and issued an invitation for the Pontiff to visit Russia. The primary focus of his remarks, however, was the effort to promote better relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. Despite the efforts of the Catholic hierarchy, the archbishop lamented, ecumenical progress is hampered by “the continual, unjustified accusations, on the part of the Russian Orthodox Church, of proselytism and penetration of their ‘canonical territory.’” The Orthodox Church has consistently argued that Catholics should not attempt to win converts in a land that is historically affiliated with the Orthodox faith—even if the practice of that faith has waned.
In his own remarks to the Russian bishops, Pope John Paul also concentrated on ecumenical affairs. He encouraged them to persevere in “patient” and “respectful” dialogue with their Orthodox neighbors. “Try to contribute to mutual understanding, and where possible to collaboration,” he urged them. “We cannot be discouraged by difficulties and even roadblocks on the ecumenical path,” he insisted. “We must continue to make every possible effort to build full unity among the disciples of Christ.”
The Holy Father also asked the Russian bishops to promote efforts at evangelization to counteract the “spiritual desolation and moral laxity” left by nearly a century of Communist rule. He suggested that the faith could be spread by the translation of liturgical texts into the Russian language, the recruitment of lay catechists, and the identification of Russian-born candidates for priestly and religious life.
Byzantine Catholics forced underground
Archbishop discourages Eastern churches
All Eastern-rite Catholic parishes in Russia are underground, Bishop Yulian Gbur of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has told the Keston New Service.
When the Moscow community attempted to register, the bishop maintained, they were told by officials—in line with the1997 law on religion—that this was impossible without the supporting signature of their Catholic bishop. Since the Ukrainian Catholic exarchate in Russia is under a Vatican-imposed mandate, he said, the hierarch in question is the head of the apostolic administration of European Russia, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. “He refused to sign,” Bishop Gbur said, “saying it would be viewed as ‘proselytism’ by the Moscow Patriarchate, and the consequences would be bad for the Catholic Church.” Most of the Catholic parishes under the archbishop’s administration are Latin-rite churches.
One Ukrainian Catholic priest, Father Sergi Golovanov confirmed that this was indeed the situation in western Russia: “We are not allowed to exist in western Russia.” Through his web site, which covers the Eastern Catholic Church in Russia, Father Golovanov reports that he frequently receives messages from Eastern Catholics all over European Russia who lament that when they try to form official parishes, “they are told they cannot exist, or there will be bad relations with the Moscow Patriarchate.” He concluded: “It is currently easier to be a Greek-Catholic Russian in Munich or Paris than here, where we have become victims of this policy.”
In an official 2000 directory of the Catholic Church in Russia, the Moscow community of Eastern Catholics is referred to not as a parish, but a “pastoral point.” The pastor, Father Andrei Udovenko, confirmed that his community has the status of a “religious group” under the 1997 law on religion. (The only legal rights of a “religious group” are to worship on premises provided by members and to teach people who already belong to the group.) When asked if Archbishop Kondrusiewicz had refused to sign registration papers, Father Udovenko simply replied that the archbishop had suggested it would be better to wait before trying to obtain legal status.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz was not available for comment, but the chancellor of the apostolic administration, Father Igor Kovalevsky, confirmed that there were no Byzantine Catholic groups in the administration. The Moscow community—which he stressed was not a parish—existed within the Latin-rite structure, said Father Kovalevsky, and was quite content not to be registered. He said: “At the moment everyone is happy with the status quo, so there is no reason to change it.”