Remarks by Prof. George Maloney, S.J. at the General Meeting of the Ukrainian Catholic Laymen,
September 29, 1973 in New York, N.Y.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ.
I just wanted to say one very important thing. I leave it up to your Committee to work out all the details, but I think I am here today to point out a larger vision so that you can keep it in mind as you work out these details. What is a larger perspective?
I am overwhelmed to see what a quantity of people have come here today and from what distances. You may know why you are here, but I dare say that God has brought you here. I dare say that the end of this year and the beginning of next year will be a most important time for your Ukrainian Catholic Church. Everything that this Patriarchal Society has stood for will be either decided or it will lose everything within this period. The Holy Spirit is moving throughout the whole Church and the Holy Spirit is, especially, moving within the Ukrainian Catholic Church as it has never moved before. The fact that not only all the people, but the priests and the bishops acclaim, according to the old procedure, under the power of the Spirit and by popular acclamation, “Blazhenishyy Yosyf I” that He is your Patriarch: this is of the Holy Spirit.
And it is from the Holy Spirit that we had Vatican Council II. As Dr. Bilaniuk said, the Roman Curia has not realized that there was a Council, and are out to negate especially the Oriental Congregation. Out to negate what 2600 bishops under the Pope of Rome and a thousand (others decreed, that the Ukrainian Church along with the other Eastern Patriarchates have been re-established in their own right (first of all we could ask how this right was ever taken away) .
But now we don’t have to beg. Our rights have been given to us, and it is up to us now to live according to these rights, and to act with the conviction that this is from the Spirit, and isn’t just a matter of our own political and national dream. The Spirit wants the principle that the local church rule itself in all things that concern itself. And today, if you do not become aware of it, you and your priests and your bishops under Cardinal Slipyy – Patriarch Josyf the First, if you do not become aware that the Spirit has given you this principle and is demanding that you act together, then I say that next year will be the end of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the beginning of the end. It is very critical that you work together so that there be no divisions or political factions at this crucial time, that everyone rally under the power of the Spirit into unity. Because the Spirit always moves us to a oneness: a oneness in the Spirit.
Let me just end by saying that I think the battle with Rome and the Curia, with Brini and everybody else, will fundamentally be on a high level that won’t concern you very much. It will be centering around the Canon Law and the saints who have written about this before, and I won’t repeat it but, it will center around one principle: shall Rome say to the Ukrainian and Eastern Patriarchates that which it doesn’t say to the Western Church, that which the Orthodox Churches never observe, and which you should not have to observe according to the Council, namely that they only have jurisdiction within Kyyiv-Halych? There is a higher jurisdiction that has always been in the Church for the good of that Church and for the good of individuals. There is jurisdiction whenever there are bishops, and people to be saved. We must push for that. We cannot let any curia or secretary of state, such as Villot, say that because in 325 it was decreed that you could never have a patriarchal jurisdiction and exert some jurisdiction in another land, it cannot happen now. The Roman Church has always exerted jurisdiction with the Eastern Church, as the Orthodox has in the U. S. A. The good of the Ukrainian Church demands this too, and this is a higher law than a Canon Law that was written for another purpose in 325.
I conclude with this picture: there is a very dangerous river, full of rapids, and over this river is a long log, and all of the Ukrainian bishops are standing there. They are addressing Brini and all of them are standing there saying, “Come back.” On the other side is Patriarch Joseph I and all of you people and your suffering Church and there are similiar bishops saying, “Come over, we want to have a VI Synod, we need your help because what would a Patriarch be without you?” Now we are looking at both sides; there are thousands.
It was wonderful to take a glass of wine and say, “Nash Patriyarkh Yosyf Pershyy.” Now we must push our bishops in our direction. There is my one claim, desire, and petition. We all need this Synod because if we do not have it we will never have a constitution for this Church. Rome is waiting for Cardinal Slipyj to pass away and then the Church of Ukraine will be separated and the hand-picked bishops will rule their own little world of second rate Catholic citizens but the Catholic Church will still be Roman and not universal. We need this Synod, we need the bishops to rally around their Patriarch, not only in words but in deeds to acclaim the rights that were granted them when they entered the Catholic Church in 1596.
This I believe is why you are here. The Spirit has brought you here and you have got to keep moving always in unity.
