BACKGROUND ON THE CATHOLIC AND ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN UKRAINE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 23, 2001 (VIS) - For every papal trip abroad, Vatican Radio prepares a book on the country that Pope John Paul will visit. These books include historical background, information on the civil and leading ecclesiastical authorities and information on the Church in that country. For the Holy Father's trip to Ukraine, information on both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches was detailed.

Over 97 percent of the religious communities now registered in Ukraine are Christian and about half of these communities are of the Orthodox tradition. The other half is divided among Catholics and Protestants. According to state legislation, the three major Orthodox jurisdictions and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church belong to the category "traditional Churches." There are also Jews, Moslems and believers of other faiths in 21st Century Ukraine.

The three major Orthodox jurisdictions in Ukraine are: 1. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, which has 9049 communities, most of which are located in central and southeastern Ukraine; 2. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kievan Patriarchate, which has 2781 communities, of which about a third are in the central regions and about 10 percent in southeastern areas; 3. The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which has 1015 communities, of which about 80 percent are located in western Ukraine.

The two major Catholic Churches represented in Ukraine are the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with 3317 communities, the vast majority of which are located in western Ukraine, and the Roman Catholic Church with 807 communities, of which more than half are in the central regions.

There is also the Armenian Catholic Church which has a community which was reconstituted in Lviv.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church comprises Catholics of the Byzantine rite, known as Greek Catholics, who are heirs of the Union of Brest of 1596, which the hierarchy of the Kievan Metropolia established with the Church of Rome. The 20th century was a stormy one for this Church, and she was led through it by some of her greatest leaders. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was liquidated by Stalin's regime and forcibly "re-united" with the Russian Orthodox Church after World War Two. Regardless of the fact that it was officially forbidden and harshly persecuted, this Church preserved its hierarchical structures in the underground and diaspora, and in December 1989 it requested official legalization. Cardinal Lubomyr Husar is the present head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which has 3317 communities, 79 monasteries, 1168 monks and nuns, 1872 priests, 2777 churches, and 305 churches are being built.

Catholics of the Latin rite are members of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, whose hierarchical structures in the past were spread over those Ukrainian lands which became incorporated into neighboring Catholic nations. After these territories were joined to the USSR, the Soviet power liquidated the diocesan network of the Roman Catholics, deporting and repressing a significant portion of its clergy and faithful. Only about one hundred parishes remained under the severe government control. Since Ukrainian independence many parishes have re-opened and new parishes have been formed. Cardinal Marian Jaworski is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lviv. There are 807 communities, 50 monasteries, 309 monks and nuns, 431 priests, 713 churches and
74 churches are being built.

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JOHN PAUL II ARRIVES IN UKRAINE AT START OF 94TH FOREIGN TRIP

VATICAN CITY, JUN 23, 2001 (VIS) - Following a three-hour flight from Rome's Fiumicino Airport, Pope John Paul arrived today at the Boryspil International Airport in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, at 12:30 p.m. local time. His 1,800-kilometer trip, the 94th foreign voyage of his pontificate, took him over Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Ukraine.

The Pope was welcomed at the airport by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and other civil authorities, as well as Church dignitaries including Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, metropolitan archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians, Cardinal Marian Jaworski, metropolitan archbishop of Lviv of the Latins and the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic. About 100 children were on hand to celebrate his arrival.

In his speech during the welcome ceremony, the Holy Father spoke of his eagerness "to make this pilgrimage to the renowned churches of Kiev, the cradle of the Christian culture of the whole of Eastern Europe. ... I greet you, Ukraine, brave and determined witness of adherence to the values of faith. How much you suffered in order to vindicate, in difficult times, the freedom to profess the faith!"

The Pope greeted Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma and said, "through you I wish to greet the Ukrainian people. I congratulate them on their re-won independence and give thanks to God for the fact that this took place without bloodshed."

Addressing his "brother bishops of the Greek Catholic Church and Latin Catholic Church," he said: "What an immense burden of suffering, you have had to endure in years past! But you are responding enthusiastically and re-organizing yourselves, seeking light and comfort from your glorious past. Your intention is to continue courageously in your resolve to spread the Gospel, the light of truth and love for every human being. Do not lose heart!"

"As a pilgrim of peace and brotherhood, I am sure that I shall be welcomed with friendship also by those who, although they are not Catholics, have hearts open to dialogue and cooperation. I wish to assure them that I have not come here with the intention of proselytizing but to bear witness to Christ."

John Paul II extended "a cordial greeting to the dear brother bishops, the monks and priests, and all the faithful of the Orthodox Church, who form the majority of the citizens in this country. I recall with pleasure that down the course of history relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Kiev have known periods of light ... Unfortunately, there have also been sad times, when the image of Christ's love has been obscured: bowing before our one Lord, let us recognize our faults. As we ask forgiveness for the errors committed in both the distant and recent past, let us in turn offer forgiveness for the wrongs endured. The most fervent wish that rises from my heart is that the errors of times past will not be repeated in the future. May their memory not be a hindrance on the way to mutual knowledge, the source of brotherhood and cooperation."

"The world is rapidly changing: what was unthinkable yesterday is within our reach today. Christ exhorts us all to renew in our hearts feelings of brotherly love. If we rely on love, it is possible ' with God's help ' to transform the world."

He noted how, "down through the centuries, the Ukrainian people have known harsh and exhausting trials." Highlighting a number of these events, Pope John Paul said that "whatever interpretation is given, it is certain that from these experiences, a new hope has been born."

In closing, he said: "Ukraine has a clearly European vocation, emphasized by the Christian roots of your culture. My hope is that these roots will strengthen your national identity."

Following this ceremony, the Holy Father went to the apostolic nunciature in Kiev, then by car to the Greek Catholic Church of St. Nicholas where he recited a brief prayer. Lunch followed this visit. Shortly after 5:30 p.m. he went to pay a courtesy call on Ukrainian President Kuchma.

Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine with a population of 2.6 million people, was founded by the Slav Prince Kyi in 482. Legend has it that the Apostle Andrew had prophesied that on a hill of Kiev "a great and glorious city" would rise. At the start of the ninth century Kiev became the capital of Rus', a powerful Slav state which spread from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Kiev developed notably under Prince Vladimir. His baptism and that of Kievan Rus' in 988, marked the beginning of Christianity in this territory. At one time Kiev even boasted of having the greatest library of Christianity.

In the 12th century the "city of golden heads" (so-called for the dozens of golden domes of the city's churches) fell to the Tartars who burned it in 1240. Starting in 1362, it fell under Lithuanian, then Polish domination. In the mid-17th century there was a struggle for national freedom. After a long period of domination by Moscow, there was a brief period of independence between the October 1917 Revolution and the 1918 intervention of the Red Army with the successive creation of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On July 16, 1990, months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Supreme Council of Ukraine adopted the Declaration on the Sovereign State of Ukraine and this was confirmed by a people's referendum on December 1, 1991.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 23, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Emilius Goulet P.S.S. of the Society of Priests of St. Sulpice and rector of the Pontifical Canadian College in Rome, as metropolitan archbishop of Saint-Boniface (area 38,000, population 365,000, Catholics 101,920, priests 121, permanent deacons 14, religious 411), Canada. The archbishop-elect was born in Saint-Isidore-de-Dorchester, Canada, in 1933 and ordained a priest in 1958.

- Fr. Nicholas Chia, diocesan chancellor and bursar, as well as pastor of the Holy Cross Church in Singapore, as archbishop of Singapore (area 639, population 3,893,700, Catholics 147,421, priests 140, religious 369). The archbishop-elect was born in Singapore in 1938 and ordained a priest in 1964.

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