Almanac of Ukrainian Studies. 2015. Volume 18
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Mykhaylo Dovbyshсhenko
Ukrainian Experience of the Christendom Unity
in the Past and Nowadays Situation
The issue of Christian unity exists over a thousand years. Since the Church schism
of 1054 and separation the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) Christendom
there was much discussion and intellectuals as clerical as secular created around
this issue a lot of scientific treatises. They analyzed the causes and consequences
of the schism and proposed concrete ways to restore the former unity. However,
Europe has a very practical experience of the inter-confessional understanding.
In Ukraine during 1000 years have coexisting cultural traditions of Eastern and
Western Christianity. Everyday needs forced the clergy but of ethnical communities
to seek compromise and mutual understanding. As a result, the Ukrainian people
gained the unique experience in interfaith contacts, which has not had, for example,
neighboring Russia or Africa.
Ancient Rus’ (Ukraine) adopted Christianity in the Eastern rite, but was also in
contact with Rome in the pre-Mongol period [3, c. 20–24; 5, c. 75–81]. From the middle
of the twelfth century information about these contacts become more expressive.
Thus, Western sources record participation of Russian Archbishop Peter in the
Ecumenical Council, held in 1245 in Lion [5, c. 98–99]; at the same time (1245–47)
held the negotiations with Prince Daniel Galician with papal ambassadors about
recognition of the supremacy of Rome. The result of lengthy negotiations was the
coronation of Prince Daniel, held in Dorogochin in 1253. These events – attended by
Archbishop Peter Cathedral in Lyon and decision of Daniel to accept the crown from
the hands of Pope Innocent IV – are not taken into question by Ukrainian scholars.
It remains, however, a wide field for debate. Historians of Uniate church see in
these events the evidence of Kyiv Metropolia unity with Rome; scholars of Orthodox
tradition, by contrast, explain the actions of Archbishop and Prince exclusively by
political reasons and deny their influence on interchurch relations between Kyiv and
Rome. The current sources make it impossible definitively to resolve this dispute.
However, close contacts of Russia and Rome in the mid-thirteenth century, both
political and religious, can cause no doubts.
A special place in the debate on Ukraine’s participation in union processes of the
XV ct. is the theme of the Florence Council in 1439. It is well known, that at this time
the Byzantine Empire sought for the military support of Western Europe to counter
the Turkish aggression. Being on the verge of collapse Byzantium state expressed
their readiness not only to military but also to the church alliance with the West. As
a result, the Ecumenical Council of Florence signed a union between the Catholic
and Orthodox Churches. However, the real military assistance for Byzantium
had not been granted by Western Europe, as the result the Turkish army in 1453
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invaded Constantinople. Since this the Orthodox Greece lost the interest in unity
with Rome and the Florentine union actually became invalid. However one of the
ideologues of the Florentine Union was Isidor – Kyiv Metropolitan by Greek origin.
It is unknown whether he really represented the sentiments of the clergy of Kyiv
Metropolia or reflected the aspirations of his countrymen who wanted to save their
homeland. But there is no doubt, that the ideas of the Florentine union was popular
among the Ukrainian elite at the end of the XVI century, when was preparing the
first “Ukrainian” project of Church unity.
In the XVI century, during the cultural and national revival in Ukraine the interest
in the question of the unity of Christendom increased. This was due to the general
rise of interest in national history and activity of Catholic missionaries Ukrainian elite
urgent needed to heal the Church. The theme of church union was discussed at the
court of Prince Yuri Slutsky [7, c. 115–117] and Stanislaw Radziwill [6, c. 365], but
the coherent project of union formulated the duke Constantine of Ostrog in his letter
to Bishop Hipaty Potii from 1593. In his opinion, association of churches had to solve
four problems. Firstly, it had to be restored unity of Christians worldwide because
the union was to be held with the participation and consent of all Eastern Patriarchs,
including Moscow. Secondly, the union Ukrainian Church had to guarantee immunity
from discrimination by the Catholic clergy. Thirdly, the guarantees to Ukrainian Church
were providing by the reservation places in the Sejm and Senate for Uniate hierarchy.
Fourth, the union had to raise the Church by improving education of the clergy [2,
c. 33]. So, duke of Ostrog in his project was trying to combine the global problem
of the Christian unity with the problem of the status of the Ukrainian Church in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the prospects of its spiritual development.
However, in October 1596 at the Council of Brest, contrary to the position of
duke Constantine of Ostrog, was adopted the project of union, whose author was
the bishop Potii. In the main features this project matched the plan of the duke of
Ostrog. The principal difference was to conclude a separate union of Kiev Metropolia
without the negotiations with the patriarchs of the East and Moscow. This project in
the final version was approved by Rome, was reduced to 33 provisions, covering
issues related to religious, administrative, political, economic and social life of the
Church. Actually the concept of church unity included the coordination of dogmatic
differences between Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, agreed on the basis
of resolutions of Florence Cathedral in 1439 [2, c. 43–47].
As you know, the majority of the clergy and laics of the Kyiv Metropolia did not
accept the union and Ukrainian-Belarusian society was in a state of religious and
national division. Nevertheless, even in such circumstances, both the Uniate and
Orthodox intellectuals were discussing about the solving of mutual conflicts and
restore unity of the Kyiv Church. Hence, discussions and consultations on the
possibility of joining the Orthodox segment of the Kyiv Metropolia the union on more
favorable terms lasted till 1620 – 40-es. Foremost among these was the project
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of the Orthodox Metropolitan of Kyiv Peter Mohyla from 1645. Basing on the long
tradition of the Eastern Church, he announced its readiness to recognize the Pope
as a head of the universal Church and governor of Christ while maintaining the
Orthodox religious tradition. However, according to Mohyla’s project the pope could
not be the patriarch of the Ukrainian Church, because it is supervised by the Patriarch
of Constantinople. So far as it was no hope of Patriarch’s acceptance of the union,
counting the countering position of Turkey, Mohyla proposed to declare the Patriarch
the slave of the Turkish state and therefore his incapability until the liberation of the
East from the domination of Muslims. Meanwhile Kyiv Metropolia could sign the union
with Rome and formally not leave the jurisdiction of Constantinople. The scheme
proposed by Mohyla actually meant the transformation of Kyiv Metropolia into the
almost independent Church – the Pope had a limited impact on its internal life and
the patriarch of Constantinople could not manage it because he was indefinitely in
the status of “prisoner” of Turkey.
However, the death of Mohyla and the beginning of the Liberation War led by Hetman
Bohdan Khmelnytsky made this project impossible. Henceforth the permanent war,
which lasted in Ukraine about 30 years, led to a split not only the Ukrainian lands,
but the Kiev Orthodox Metropolia. In such circumstances, to lead a discussion on
Christian unity was impossible by definition. Finally, the union remained within the
Commonwealth is the “Brest format.” However, after the partition of Poland tsarist
government immediately began the liquidation of Kyiv Uniate Metropolia. Therefore,
in the XIX century Uniate Church continued its existence only in Galicia, a part of
Austria, where was forming a new concept of unity of the Church.
So, from the end of XVIII century Galician Uniates were “cut off” from historical
Kyiv Metropolia. Living in multinational Austrian Empire till the early twentieth century,
they were in search of religious and national identity at a crossroads between being
Ukrainian, Polonophilia and Moscvophilia in the national sense, and between the
union, Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy – in the religious one. A huge contribution
to solving the crisis made the Metropolitan Andrew Sheptyts’kyi. Among other
measures, long time he was working on the project of unity of the Church – both
in Ukrainian and in a global scale. This process began with his famous pastoral
letters “Come near Times” in 1907, and the final concept of unity was adopted in
1943 at the Fourth Arhieparhial Council, which was outlined in a document entitled
“Decree on unity.” Summarizing the historical experience of movement for reunion
Sheptyts’kyi showed those mistakes, which could not be presumed in the new
historical realities. In his speech on the subject in 1923 in Rome, he argued that
the union could not justify the claims of any church or special rights for the nation
in achieving Christian unity [4, c. 205]. Thus, the implementation of this mission
must be the result of joint work of all Christian nations. Metropolitan Sheptyts’kyi
also critically rethought the experience of Brest Church Union. As head of the Greek
Catholic Church, he approved the decision of the hierarchy in Brest. However, further
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analysis of events led him to conclude that the Union of Brest has not achieved
its main goal – to bring to the unity with the Catholic Church all the faithful of the
Kyiv Metropolia [4, c. 209–210]. For this reason, the Metropolitan Sheptyts’kyi in
negotiations about church unity was looking for new models of unity.
The Sheptyts’kyi’s concept of the unity of the universal Church was finally crystallized
during the famous ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox clergy and intelligentsia,
which took place during the years 1941–42. While sincere and frank exchange of
views Orthodox clergy revealed the concern that the future Union could not avoid the
shortcomings of Brest union, which at some point lead to romanization of Eastern
rite and gradual decline the Orthodox spiritual tradition. Therefore, Metropolitan
Sheptyts’kyi proposed new format of church unity, which boiled down to the following
provisions:
1. Union with the Roman Catholic Church does not mean the obedience to the
Pope as Patriarch of Western (Latin) Church, but the acceptance of his authority
as Pastor of the universal Church “above and beyond the any concept of Western
patriachat” [4, c. 207].
2. Every Eastern Church which is in communion with the Apostolic See, is a
separate church in full canonical and theological sense, and by no means goes
beyond the Eastern tradition [4, c. 208].
3. Representatives of Ukrainian churches (Orthodox and Greek Catholic) have
jointly select the metropolitan of Kyiv, who would be in unity with Rome. In such
circumstances the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and its head had to recognize
his spiritual power over them.
However, the proposed by Andrew Sheptyts’kyi model of Christian unity could not
be implemented in practice due to unfavorable political situation in Ukraine and in
the world. In the summer of 1944, Soviet troops occupied Galicia, November 1, 1944
Metropolitan Sheptyts’kyi died, and in 1946 by the efforts of Soviet authorities the
Greek Catholic Church was liquidated. Nevertheless, the idea of unity in the vision
of the Metropolitan Sheptyts’kyi and his associates had a significant influence on
subsequent events connected with the history of Eastern and Western Christianity.
Sheptyts’kyi long before the decrees of the Second Vatican Council formulated the
idea of equality of Churches, which later was the basis for the concept of “sister
Churches” – one of the most important provisions of ecumenism of the second half
of the twentieth century.
When Ukraine gained the independence, it opened a new stage in the development
of religious movements in our country. The particular importance has gained the
problem of the unity within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which still remains divided.
The failure of church and state leadership to find effective solutions to this problem
have provided a new impetus for the development of metropolitan Sheptyts’kyi’s
ideas about the unity of Christians in Ukraine and the world. Obviously, the new
understanding of the problem is developing among Greek Catholics, because
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their church over four centuries inculcated into practice the idea of the unity of the
Churches. The concept of Archbishop Liubomyr Guzar, expressed in several articles
and sermons, was the result of rethinking of its historical experience and analysis
of global trends in the development of inter-religious relations. It could be limited to
the following provisions:
a) Overcoming the “trap of confessionalism” as a prerequisite for Christian Unity
Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church criticized the confessional isolation
as one of the obstacles to religious understanding [1, c. 95]. The head of the Church
have a way to help to overcome religious barriers and facilitate the convergence
of Christians of different denominations. He stressed that trap of confessionalism
is the asking yourself who you are, instead of asking yourself about for what God
calls us” [1, c. 95]. In this connection, Archbishop Guzar stressed that the modern
Christian, regardless of their denominational affiliation, must combine the features
of the three apostles – Peter’s humble faithfulness, creative mind of Paul and John’s
mystical view [1, c. 95]. The combination of these qualities creates the ideological
conditions for overcoming the identity crisis of modern man professing Christianity.
b) Joint St. Communion – a fundamental principle of unity of the universal Church
First of all, it should be noted that Guzar, as head of the Church, have remained
faithful to the fundamental principle of church unity, which traditionally defends the
Catholic Church. However, taking into account historical experience and commitment
of the Catholic Church to dialogue on the current understanding of the dogma of
the primacy of the Pope, Archbishop Guzar proposed a new formula for the unity
of Christians of East and West. In his sermon “one People of God ...” He thereupon
proposed a “model of communion” relationship of the Orthodox and the Catholic
Church [1, c. 139]. Thus, the essence of church unity according Guzar is primarily
in common St. Communion, which provides for mutual recognition and mutual
sacraments of commemoration in the liturgy. With these circumstances, the question
of form submission Eastern Christians of Rome, which was one of the most difficult
topics of religious controversy over the past thousand years, loses its sharpness.
c) Creating a single national church in Kyiv within the unified worldwide Christendom
Archbishop Guzar consistently advocates the creation of a single Local Ukrainian
Church. Officially, it was delivered in the sermon “one people of God ...” [1, c. 137].
To join this Church are urged all Christians, which link their spiritual and religious
traditions with the united Ukrainian Church of IX–XVI centuries. [1, c. 96] Guzar
said that the construction of a single local Church of Kyiv should be based on the
experience of all Ukrainian churches that are associated with the history of KyivChristian tradition. Churches that for historical circumstances were divided between
different Patriarchate, have considerable experience of church building that should
be saved. In such way Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will bring in a united
Kyiv Church its unique experience of communion with the Christian West and the
relations with the Catholic Europe [1, c. 140]. It was also noted the importance of
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traditions and the tradition of governing by council of Ukrainian Church is carried by
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate and Ukrainian Autocephalous
Church [1, c. 141]. It is also emphasized the importance of the experience of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, which will help to establish
good neighborly relations with the Orthodox Russia [1, c. 140–141].
Thus, Ukraine has a long and extremely valuable experience in the search for
the church unity. Formulated at the turn of XX–XXI century by Liubomyr Guzar
conception is a deep rethinking of experience in the realities of the modern world.
It combines the idea of internal consolidation of Ukrainians with the problems of
Christian unity in the world. That is why the prospect of Kyiv local church (preserving
communion with the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches) can become an
event that will have global significance. In this example, the Ukrainian people have
the chance to demonstrate to the world the perfect implementation of Christian unity
by the example of their own historical experience.
References
1. Arzhakovsk’kyi Antuan. Besidy z blazhennym Liubomyrom Guzarom. Do
postkonfesiinogo khrystyianstva. – L’viv: Vydavnyctvo UKU, 2007. – 183 p.
2. Velykyi A. Z litopysu khrystyians’koi Ukrainy. – Rym: Vydavnyctvo оо. vasylian, 1971. –
B. 4. – 279 p.
3. Volnoskii A. Katolichestvo I sviashchennoe predanie Vostoka. – Parizh, 1933. – 328 p.
4. Guzar Liubomyr. Ekumenichna misiia Skhidnykh katolyc’kykh Cerkov u bachenni
mytropolyta Andreia (Sheptyc’kogo) // Коvcheg. – 2000. – Chyslo 2. –P. 189–212.
5. Fedoriv Ju. Istoriia Cerkvy v Ukraini. – L’viv: Svichado, 2001. – 364 p.
6. Lulewicz H. Radziwiłł Stanisław // Polski słownik biograficzny. – T. XXX/2 – Zeszyt
125. – Wrocław, 1987. – S. 365–366.
7. Monmenta Ucrainae Historica. – Romae: Editionis universitatis catholicae ucrainorum
s. Clementis Papae, 1971. – Vol. IX–X. – 942 p.