Archbishop Mechyslav Mokshytsky: "Nobody told the world as many good things about Ukraine as the Slavic Pope did"
The bestseller He Liked Tuesdays Best has been recently published in Ukrainian! These are the stories by the Archbishop Mechyslav Mokshytsky (now the Lviv Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Church) about John Paul’s II everyday life, or rather about how the Pope remained a human. His Eminence was the pontiff’s second secretary for nine years... For example, the book tells that the Holy Father liked repeating the aphorism: “Justice is not enough, love is needed.” Or sincerely laughed at the joke about him: “What’s the difference between the Pope and the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is everywhere and the Pope has already been there.” He believed in the power of prayer with all his heart. He always repeated during the hard times: “Let’s pray!” Moreover, he used to approach the window of his bedroom and bless the world every night before going to bed.
The Day asked the Archbishop Mechyslav MOKSHYTSKY to share his memories about John Paul II and discussed the religious situation in Ukraine.
This year we’ve celebrated the tenth anniversary of John Paul’s II pastoral visit to Ukraine. “I came as your friend,” these were the first words the Pope said having arrived in our country. The pontiff always backed these words by his deeds. What was the reason for such sympathy for the Ukrainians?
“Ukraine is close to every Pole since back at the beginning of the 20th century a part of its territory was Po-lish. Many writers described those times in their works.
“Many historical researches were written about this period. The Pope loved the history a lot and knew it well. Especially, the history of the churches: Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Orthodox ones. Besides, one of his spiritual mentors the Archbishop Adam Stefan Sapieha worked in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) and in Lviv. In 1944, the Nazis recruited the Polish men for work in Germany so Karol Jozef Wojtyla concealed himself in his house and stayed there till the end of World War II. In 1946, Sapieha ordained young Wojtyla priest. It means that the Holy Father was related to Ukraine historically, spiritually and emotionally. For example, when Joseph the Blind came back from Siberia and settled in Rome the pontiff became his good friend. They often saw each other and talked. When the Primate of the Greek Catholics died, John Paul II came to say goodbye: he prayed for a long time and kissed his hand. The Pope was grateful to the Ukrainians that they had preserved their faith despite 70 years of the communist rule. Nobody said as many good things about Ukraine as the Slavic Pope did.”
The process of Andrii Sheptytsky’s beatification has been going for 70 years. It was stopped twice because of the interference of the Polish leading clerics of the Roman Catholic Church. It’s known that the Pope John Paul II wanted this process to be successfully finished as soon as possible. Do you know at what stage this process is now?
“When the Holy Father visited Ukraine in most of his sermons he touched upon Andrii Sheptytsky’s personality one way or another. Back then, there were even rumors that the pontiff had already beatified him… It’s true that the Pope respected the Metropolitan a lot. However, some of the bishops blame Sheptytsky for not having stopped the fratricidal struggle between the Ukrainians and the Poles during World War II. If the experts dealing with this process manage to clear up some details it will quickly progress. I can’t tell you at what stage it is since I haven’t been following it for a while but I think that everything is ready for about 90 percent.”
They say that during John Paul’s II papacy they prepared the documents in order to create the Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church yet this initiative was never carried through. Do you know anything about it?
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“It’s true that during John Paul’s II pontificate the creation of the Patriarchate for the Ukrainian Greek Catholics was discussed. The Holy Father met the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the General Commission on Christian Unity and other clerical structures and told them that the largest eastern Catholic Church of the world had this right. However, the Council of Cardinals (the Pope’s advisory body dealing with similar issues) decided that it was too early to adopt that decision since it, supposedly, could provoke disapproval of the Russian Orthodox Church. By the way, the pontiff aspired to meet the then Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Aleksiy II. He even accepted their conditions to hold the meeting only on a neutral territory yet their agreements permanently fell through, that wasn’t our fault.”
During his enthronement the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Sviatoslav [Shevchuk. – Ed.] mentioned you as his mentor and warmly recalled John Paul’s rosary [beads. – Ed.] you gave him. How would you assess the first months of his work?
“I’m pleased that His Beatitude Sviatoslav wasn’t afraid of speaking about our good relations in public. Though we studied at the same Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, we met when he was the chancellor of the Lviv Theological Seminary. Back then we could see each other during various celebrations such as the beginning of a new school year and met in person. Later on, I participated in the ceremony when he was consecrated a bishop.
“We’ve already held an official meeting and discussed the problems of the Ukrainian church and the coordination of the further cooperation between the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church – in fact, there are a lot of unresolved questions between us. I think he is young, energetic and open, his intentions are sincere and he’ll be a good primate for the Greek Catholics. Obviously, not everything will happen easily and quickly.”
Could you please tell what are the problems most often faced by the church in a post-totalitarian society?
“I believe that after so many years of the communist dominance the church has to primarily speak about the morality and values. John Paul II spent a lot of time interpreting the Decalogue formerly in Poland.
“Unfortunately, Ukraine is absorbed by the corruption. As a result people don’t believe in justice and it leads to the cynicism. Of course, people can’t build the public society being in such mood. The Holy Father once said that a “homo sovieticus” (now we should add the prefix “post” to the second world) especially needs hope and freedom. That is why we should meet everybody’s needs. Currently, the Roman Catholic Church is carrying on its pastoral activity in the hospitals. However, we should do it everywhere: with teachers, railway employees, the police, etc. We should think about Catholic kindergartens at the parishes. In general, we should draw our attention to the youth. By the way, a lot of young people are drug or alcohol addicts who need special rehabilitation centers to be created. Abortions also remain a serious problem.
“The churches in the West have something to rely on, namely the movements inside the churches, but in Ukraine these movements don’t exist. In brief, we have lots of things to do.”
The Vatican Prelate Mario Toso has recently claimed about the need to create a Catholic party in Italy. Zealous Catholics can become its members in order to protect the Christian va-lues in the secularized Italian society. What do you think about it? Do you think Ukraine that is considered today a Christian country is threatened by the secularization?
“I think this is a great initiative. By the way, Italy used to have a strong Christian party but it collapsed. You see, we have to not only be good Christians but good citizens, too. The future of our society depends on us.
“Is Ukraine threatened by the se-cularization? Ukraine is not a kind of reserve. The answer implies taking into consideration 70 years of the atheistic rule. So, both the church and the country have to be ready to accept this challenge.”
In Ukraine, the Catholic clergy is mainly represented by the Poles. Do you intend to “replace” them with Ukrainians by giving them a good Western education (a lot of them, even the Orthodox ones appreciate the so-called Roman clerical school)?
“Of course. As we know, during the Soviet times there was no place to educate the new priests. During the first years of the independence there were only 20 Roman Catholic priests all over Ukraine. Now we have several theological seminaries: in Vorzel near Kyiv, in Kamianets-Podilsky and Lviv where there are students from other countries. The Lviv Diocese has 80 or even 83 Ukrainian pastors and 60 Po-lish ones. It means that the Ukrainians make more than the half. However, probably, the Ukrainian Roman Catholic Church will be associated with the Poles. The same as the Evangelistic Church in Poland is associated with the Germans. It’s incorrect. Many Poles go there as well as the Germans do; many Ukrainians go to the Roman Catholic churches in Kyiv, Lviv, Kamianets-Podilsky or elsewhere.”
It is known that the Pope prayed for the unity of the church, not only for the Catholic Church as an institution but for the oneness of Christ and the Church. What are the prospects of the Orthodox unity in Ukraine?
“Even Jesus Christ prayed for the unity of the church. Today it’s a serious problem. We have to pray for the unity and seek the mutual understanding, first of all, among the parishioners. The leading clerics will have to take further steps.”
You worked with John Paul II for nine years. You’ve mentioned that you “lived in the shade of holiness” and the holy person addressed you: Metsiu… What episodes of your communication with the pontiff do you recall most often?
“I memorized the dinner of the Holy Father with Mother Teresa from Calcutta. The extraordinary atmosphere reigned then. We met her many times, most of the meetings were official and similar meetings were rare. We had this dinner in 1997, if I’m not mistaking, shortly before she died and it seemed very special to me. I felt so much good in their talks, so much love towards other people. One Holy person met another.”
Interviewed by Nadia TYSIACHNA and Sofia KOCHMAR
