International activity of the Ukrainian greek catholic church and consideration his Beatitude Lubomyr Husar on the unity of the church, state, and Ukrainian diaspora

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Postgraduate Student of the Department of Religious Studies Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

International activity of the Ukrainian greek catholic church and consideration his Beatitude Lubomyr Husar on the unity of the church, state, and Ukrainian diaspora

Verbytskyi Volodymyr

Summary

The article considers a very important factor of His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), who actively supported together by their followers, the most positive tendencies towards the development and pacification of Ukraine. Nowadays, the international activity of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is an important factor in the active presentation of the main directions of Ukrainian politics in the religious and spiritual realm. Moreover, this direction of the church activity influences not only spiritual care and protection of its believers abroad, missionary work, friendly communication with fraternal churches, dialogue with spiritual leaders of other religions, consultations with famous state and public figures, scientists, politicians, but also sharing the issues that are of concern to today's Ukrainian society with European public.

On February 26, 2019, the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Svyatoslav Shevchuk, held a round table entitled "Ukraine Today: The role of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the transformation of Ukrainian society” at the Residence of Pope Paul VI near the Vatican. His Beatitude Svyatoslav Shevchuk drew attention to solving a number of problems in Ukraine of international importance. These are, above all, the overcoming of the remnants of the post-Soviet society, the problems of corruption generated by the oligarchic system, the war in the East of Ukraine, and so on.

Ambassadors and representatives of the embassies at the Apostolic Capital from Germany, Ukraine, the USA, Hungary, Australia, Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Portugal, France, Belgium, representatives of the State Secretariat of the Vatican and others took part in the discussion.

Given that, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church through its sociopolitical doctrine and the corresponding moral imperatives and appraisal judgments, indirectly influences the adoption and implementation of political decisions and the political consciousness of believers, it can be argued that it acts not only as a political actor but also as a performer of a social mission, represents Ukrainian interests at the international level.

Key words: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar, Church, State, Diaspora, Culture, Values.

Тhe Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (hereinafter referred to as the UGCC) has become an important phenomenon in independent Ukraine, not only in the spiritual life of Ukraine but also in the political, as well as the object of the meticulous attention of national historians, religious scholars, theologians, who make great efforts to reproduce picture of the development of the UGCC from the Brest Union to the present.

In connection with this, a general study on the history of the UGCC, published by A. Vaskov, Fr. S. Kyak, Fr. G. Luzhnitsky, V. Marchuk, Fr. I. Monchak, en.

S. Mudry, V. Paschenko, en. A. Sapelyak. Among the great variety of special researches, those that have addressed the problems of the development of the organizational structure of the UGCC, the history of its individual dioceses, the activities of hierarchs, whose authors, in particular, were domestic researchers I. Andrukhiv, V. Badiak, M. Gaykovsky, B. Golovin, oh. B. Gudziak, Fr. M. Dimid, O. Yehreshii, Fr. O. Kaskov, Fr. I. Lutsky, O. Lysenko, O. Nedavnya, Pylypiv, I. Ya. Skocilyas, I. B. Scochilyas, N. Stoko- los, Ya. Stotsky, O. Turiy, I. Khimka, and many others.

Today, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has more than 3,000 congregations that operate not only in Western Ukraine, as is commonly thought, but throughout the Ukrainian state. In particular, there are dioceses of the UGCC in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Curitiba (Brazil) and Melbourne (Australia). Ukrainian Greek Catholics also have communities in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Austria, Paraguay, Venezuela, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium, Kazakhstan.

During the years of independence, the growing role of religion in the social and political life of Ukraine gave new impetus to scientific research in the sphere of relations between church, state, and society. Researchers A. Kolodny, V. Shevchenko, V. Yelensky, S. Zdioruk, N. Stokolos, M. Rybachuk, etc., paid considerable attention to the activities of Ukrainian churches in their works and conducted a thorough comparative analysis of the impact of each of them on Ukrainian society.

According to church and secular scholars, there were several socio-economic and political reasons that caused the union of the Orthodox with Rome. One of the biggest negatives in the life of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine in the sixteenth century was secular patronage over her. Kings had the right to give to secular persons the so-called “spiritual capitals” and “spiritual breads”, which had privileges and merits before the state and the king, and not before the church. These people generally did not have a “spiritual calling”, did not always understand and appreciate the church service, only cared about the material benefits that gave them high church positions. In the sixteenth century the Orthodox Church in Ukraine was in crisis. Metropolitan and Episcopal Chairs reach people who are inexperienced, completely secular, and often immoral. Taking the example of kings, princesses, various Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian magnates, and nobles abused the right of patronage over the church in their estates and in their sphere of influence.

As a result, demoralization and disorder occur in the lower stages of church life. The second reason that has disorganized church life in Ukraine is the interference in church affairs of fraternities. Church fraternities were secular public-religious associations, they had great merit in the development of education, culture, awakening, and organization of national religious life in Ukraine. There were other reasons that pushed the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Church to the Union of Brest. They saw a negligible spiritual attitude toward the Ukrainian Church by the Eastern Patriarchs, including Constantinople, under whose jurisdiction they were.

The Union aroused the hope of equalizing the rights and privileges of the humiliated Ukrainian Church with the dominant Roman Catholic Church. The Union was directed to protect the Ukrainian church from the aggressive encroachments of the “Third Rome”, that is, the Moscow Patriarchate (formed in 1589), to free itself from the anemic “Second Rome” guardianship, in the Constantinople Patriarchate personified the Ecumenical Church under the leadership of Peter the governor, that is, the Roman high priest. The Union was to give moral support to the Ukrainian Church and to endow it with the mission of being a true Orthodox, the idea of the unity of Christian churches in Eastern Europe.

Since the middle of the 19th century, Greek- Catholic priests have ceased to focus on Catholic states, and the Uniate Church has begun to defend the interests of the Ukrainian people more actively. In the early twentieth century, Greek Catholicism flourished thanks to the actions of Metropolitan Andrew Galitsky and Andrew Sheptytsky.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has always taken a strong pro-Ukrainian stance in upholding the cultural and spiritual values of the Ukrainian people. In the late and early twentieth century, a new unique combination emerged in the philosophical and religious understanding of the union of the state, the church, and the diaspora, as interdependent factors of statehood creation -- the active cooperation of religious and political life according to the teachings of His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar.

Contrary to popular belief, religion is not isolated from political life. The religious doctrines inherent in our era are an important factor that determines both the tendencies of the development of social life and the specifics of the course of the political process of an individual state. The latter provides the basis for researchers to argue that the process of modernization of religion is underway, and in the 21st century, it will continue to determine the nature of political and international relations.

L. Husar consistently defended the phenomenon of the creation and existence of the UGCC as the main “center” of preserving and spreading Ukrainian culture, tradition, and language, which in particular is reflected in the importance of the diaspora.

His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar emphasized the importance of education in personality formation. His words that “sovereignty in its deepest essence is a state of mind, manifested in the awareness of one's dignity, in the understanding and reverence of one's history, culture, and language, in responsibility for one's own land and for the good of one's people and readiness to protect one,” just as no others highlight the need for mother-tongue learning and patriotism education.

During the Migrant Forum marking the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Ukrainians to Kazakhstan in Karaganda, the Head of the UGCC Svyatoslav Shevchuk emphasized: “There are three things that help to preserve one's own national identity abroad -- the Ukrainian family, school and church. Thanks to them, our people have endured the hardships our parents suffered in the 20th century” [Shevchuk, 2007].

An integral part of Ukrainians is the spiritual openness of the people, which is determined not only by mentality, tradition or symbols but also by axiological orientations, which in their content are Christian both in Ukraine and in Europe, which is also one of the components of unity in comparison with Ukrainian. diaspora in the countries of the world. The value-outlook phenomenon of human integration of cultural identity is shaped by the influence of historical, socio-political, economic and other factors inherent in each ethnic, state or region. Actually, sociocultural features of our society are actualized in the arguments of L. Husar. Interest in the unification of such factors as the state and the church is focused on rethinking the value of the individual, his essential abilities, one of which is the spirituality, which bears the Church and the sociopolitical significance of the individual in combination with patriotism, understanding of freedom. words, and the concept of materialism (as enrichment or poverty) [Gnatishin, 2018].

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which drew its spiritual and religious inspiration from the sources of Kyivan Christianity, organizationally formed as a result of the signing of the Union of Brest in 1596, acquires the character of an essential national task, the fulfillment of which is identical with the preservation of the Ukrainians as a nation and in the nation- ethnoreligious community. In this context, we can argue for the development of a system of moral, ethnic and cultural priorities that were proposed by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on the basis of the Christian tradition and developed into a stable value system that has become dominant in the world view of the Ukrainian nation.

The UGCC, since its inception, integrates two theologies and two systems of worldview, Eastern and Western, which are often conflicting, however, creating one complementary integrity. By its nature, the UGCC is Eastern not only in rite but also in spirituality, which is why it sets itself the task of reviving, for centuries, the Eastern Christian spirituality inherent in the Ukrainian people. It is the ontological, not psychological, basis of spirituality that defines it not as a state of mind, as a real application of theological or Christian principles to the life of each individual.

The modern quality and character of national life and outlook, the principles of the organization of social and political affairs are the sums of certain features that define Ukrainian national and cultural identity, originate and derive their development in Ukrainian Christianity. At the same time, His Beatitude L. Husar argued that “We have to work very, very hard to change our national outlook. This, I think, will take at least two more generations. Rather, this will not happen. We need not be deceived, we are still far from our goal, but thank God, not at the beginning of our journey” [Guzar, 1998]. Undoubtedly, the 21st century breathed new meaning and outlined a new purpose for those socio-political institutions that existed in Ukraine at the time of Christianity, and gave an immediate impetus and ideologically justified the need to create new forms of socio-political organization.

Modern ethnonational processes significantly influence the revival of religion, which can be considered in two aspects, namely, internal, characterized by a deepening of the religiosity of the population, a rejuvenation of the contingent of believers, an increase in the proportion of the latter in the total population of Ukraine, and external: building religious structures, increasing the number of spiritual educational institutions, monasteries.

No less important than the task of forming a system of moral and ethical foundations of Ukrainian society, of reviving spirituality, traditions, and religiosity is the social aspect of the activity of the UGCC. Church social teaching is not a universal doctrine, or a specific socio-political or economic program, but rather a set of provisions and principles in the light of which it is necessary to find ways of solving problems pertaining to the sphere of public life, political or economic activity.

The Church preaches universal values, timeless goals, which it realizes in the life of a particular society and time, in various conditions of socio-cultural life. Reality can both facilitate and hinder the Church's high calling. But the Church manifests itself in this reality by influencing its development, seeing its mission as to change the world, make it more humane, more Christian. It should be noted that the competence of the Church as the subject of social teaching directly addresses only the religious and moral aspects of social issues, and its improved, economic and social aspects are considered only indirectly in terms of their conformity with Christian morality.

The history of the Ukrainian state and the UGCC clearly show that Christianity has become a structural element of the worldview and worldview of the Ukrainian people, in its internal position, which is one of the most important features of the Ukrainian worldview. Religiosity, as a dominant feature of national character, as a particular inner spiritual state, as a way of self-esteem and a self-sufficient system of criteria for the perception of all manifestations of the outside world -- has become a consequence, a kind of crown and, at the same time, deserving of ten centuries of activity of the Ukrainian Church, its ability to become conformable a spiritual regulator of the life of Ukrainian society, the ability to genetically combine and make common and inherited the internal and external aspects of religious-church ideology and practice.

Theological interpretation of modern culture, also defined as the interpretation of the signs of the times, involves the cooperation of theology not only with sociology but also with philosophical anthropology, history, ethnology, with economic and social sciences, political science. Another author from the theologian community, A. Shafransky, draws attention to the specific role of the laity in interpreting the signs of the times and promoting a particular culture, and this is what Lubomyr Husar draws attention to when discussing the role of the UGCC in the international community. Through their activities, the Church can grow its boundaries in such places and circumstances when it becomes a sign of presence and activity with the help of the laity. Responding to the signs of the times, the institutional Church is active, which can bring both benefits and danger. The benefit is manifested in the possibility of embodying the institutional Church in the contemporary realities of the state, in which the Church becomes the sole voice and stronghold of social activity, in the absence of other opportunities allowed by the state. This can be interpreted in the international relations of the UGCC abroad and their diasporas in Argentina, the USA, Canada, Poland, Brazil, Australia, and Western Europe. Instead, the threat to the Church may be to obtain public, economic and even political authority. However, undoubtedly, the identification of the Church hierarchy and believers with social movements demonstrates a profound vulnerability to the internal politics of the state [Balitska, 2005].

Migration, as a phenomenon of the global world, contains both positive features (realization of freedom of movement, dialogue of cultures, professional exchange, etc.), as well as negative ones (trafficking in human beings, disintegration of families of working people, leaving the country of talented people), and accordingly poses new challenges. the state, society and the Church as a public institution. This phenomenon has acquired new features and is rapidly expanding around the world under the influence of globalization. According to the Emigrant Portal, in Ukrainian realities it is gaining enormous scale -- 5-7 million Ukrainians work abroad; about 4 million foreign immigrants are in Ukraine (the vast majority of them are seeking to reach Western Europe). The reflection of the problem of Ukrainian migrants in the official documents of the UGCC is caused by a large number of Greek-Catholic believers among them. Bishop Joseph (Milan), Head of the Pastoral Mission Department of the UGCC, when considering the topic of “Migration”, always emphasizes the relevance of this issue for the Church and the state. While emphasizing the importance of migration for Ukrainian society and the UGCC in particular, G. Seleschuk, the head of the UGCC Commission on Migrant Affairs emphasizes: “No wonder in the history of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church migration has played a special role. For about half a century, the UGCC was able to operate and develop freely in a migrant environment. The UGCC can even be called the Church of Migrants. Today, about a third of her faithful live abroad. More than half of the dioceses and exarchates of the UGCC are located outside Ukraine. The contribution of the Diaspora to the revival and development of our Church in Ukraine is difficult to overestimate. The Diaspora cried out and gave many of its best sons and daughters to the Motherland. The connection of our Church with migrants and their organizations has always been of particular importance. As the UGCC's experience of over a hundred years teaches abroad, both organizations and church communities will melt and decline without such connection” [Seleshchuk, 2010].

The Church recognizes the importance of the Diaspora for her and the Ukrainian state and expresses her willingness to support and assist her, but much of the responsibility rests with the migrants themselves: “The modern world provides many opportunities to find a place in life. It may be for someone outside their own country. The importance of the diaspora for the preservation and development of our Church and the state can hardly be overestimated. We cannot condemn those who found themselves in another country. The Church is ready to provide support to Ukrainian expatriates abroad. However, as more than a century of experience of the Ukrainian diaspora testifies, everything depends on the emigrants themselves. The Church's capabilities become very limited without their active involvement” [Seleshchuk, 2010].

The establishment of the UGCC Commission on Migrants in October 2007 is a response to the decision of the Synod of Bishops, held on September 27, 2007, on October 6, 2007, to dedicate a special day to the prayer for migrants (the last Sunday before Christmas). The phenomenon of emigration for Ukrainian society is not new; researchers usually count four waves of Ukrainian migration, the causes of which are different: forced export, escape from war, lack of freedom, search for a better fate, etc. In addition to the creation of the above-mentioned commission, the Head of the UGCC appealed to Ukrainians abroad, their families and all people of goodwill with a word of support and love. At the same time, Lubomir Husar warned migrants against the loss of connection with their homeland, family and church, as well as against the loss of national identity. “Be a living member of the environment you are in, but beware of assimilation. Every immigrant should consider himself an ambassador of Ukraine, attesting to his behavior a high level of the religious and cultural life of the Ukrainian people. Don't let the need for money blind you and stop you” [Guzar, 2007].

By Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of May 10, 2018 No. 344, the State Program for Cooperation with Foreign Ukrainians for the period up to 2020 was approved [resolution, 2018].

Each year, the state provides financial support to public organizations of foreign Ukrainians (Ukrainian diaspora or foreign Ukrainians are persons who are citizens of another state or stateless persons, and also have Ukrainian ethnic origin or are of Ukrainian origin) for the implementation of certain projects aimed at comprehensive promoting the cultural, informational and linguistic needs of foreign Ukrainians for the period up to 2020 to fulfill the objectives of the Program: providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians to ensure the publication of periodicals by communities, the preparation and broadcasting of television and radio programs, the maintenance of online resources of communities of foreign Ukrainians, the placement of publications on Ukrainian topics in mass media abroad; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians for publishing scientific, non-fiction, artistic works and collections for communities of foreign Ukrainians, as well as works of foreign Ukrainians, translating works of Ukrainian

literature into foreign languages; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians to conduct scientific and educational events abroad, including forums, conferences, seminars with participation of foreign Ukrainians; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians to popularize the Ukrainian language, literature, culture, history, traditions of the Ukrainian people, including the teaching of the Ukrainian language, as well as other subjects in the Ukrainian language; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians to provide educational institutions abroad, in which the studies are taught in Ukrainian or Ukrainian, and the centers of culture by printed, photo, audio, video production, subjects of national symbols; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians to conduct cultural and artistic events abroad, including festivals, arts festivals, exhibitions, evenings and weeks of Ukrainian art, including cinema, Ukrainian song and poetry, concerts of creative groups; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians for the production and erection of memorial plaques dedicated to prominent figures of Ukrainian history, science and culture and historical events; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians in order to organize abroad burial places (sites of memory) of prominent Ukrainians, ensuring proper care of monuments, memorial signs, memorial plaques dedicated to prominent figures of Ukrainian history, science and culture and historical events, as well as the adjacent territories; providing financial support to communities of foreign Ukrainians on the basis of co-financing for the organization of children's camps for foreign

Ukrainians in order to familiarize them with national traditions, language, literature and history of Ukraine. greek catholic church spiritual

Provision of educational and linguistic needs of foreign Ukrainians, such as the provision of assistance to Riga Ukrainian secondary school (Latvian Republic) by sending (seconding) teachers from Ukraine to Riga Ukrainian secondary school to teach Ukrainian and Ukrainian disciplines and purchase computer equipment elementary grades of Riga Ukrainian secondary school.

The study of the influence of a religious factor is extremely important for today. The principles, mechanisms, and derivatives of this phenomenon were studied in the XX-XXI centuries. representatives of religious-philosophical directions, political science, sociology, Marxist and analytical philosophy, phenomenology, structuralism.

Therefore, in order to speak to a person about himself, about his tasks and goals, the church itself must know the needs of the person, the circumstances that determine his or her mentality and the source of the personality crisis. The cause of the crisis is not the harmony of the modern world, which is observed on three levels: harmony in the individual, in the family, and in the end in society. Therefore, the church is a crucial factor in the formation of the diaspora abroad and not only the formation but as a consequence and assistance in their activities and unification, which is the actual result of the thoughts and work of His Beatitude Lubomir Husar, who singled out foreign Ukrainians and migrants as fighters for cultural heritage and people who carry the culture and history of our country in the countries of the world.

References

1. Balitska N. Kontseptualni osnovi vplivu islamu na mizhnarodnu politiku. Ukraine; Lviv: Bulletin of the University of Lviv№ 15, 2005. 158 p.

2. Blazhennishiy Lyubomir Guzar: Zvernennya z nagodi dnya emigranta. Ukraine; Lviv, 2007.

3. Blazhennishiy Svyatoslav Shevchuk: Forum Dukhovna ta kulturna identichnist ukraпntsiv Skhidnoп Gvropi ta Aziп. Vchora. Sogodni. Zavtra.Ukraine; Lviv, address, 2007.

4. Gnatishin O. Blazhennishiy Lyubomir Guzar -- Dumki u spadok. Ukraine; Lviv, “Swichado”, 2018. 58 p.

5. Guzar L. Yekumenizm yak peredumova vidkrittya svoeп identichnosti / V poshukakh identichnosti. Studiyni dni v Niredgazi. Ukraine; Lviv, “Swichado”, 1998. 130 p. resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Ukraine; resolution, 2018.

6. Seleshchuk G. Zvernennya z nagodi vidznachennya v UGKTs dnya migranta Ukraine; Kyiv, 2010.

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