Draft for a TV interview (Shaw Cable, Saskatoon, SK., Canada)

Representatives for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon:

Fr. Nikolaj Hornykewycz
Marusia Kobrynsky

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What is your commitment to Church unity?

a.) Our commitment to unity must first and foremost be expressed through an endeavour to achieve a level of unity with the orthodox churches, especially with those closest to us, namely our Ukrainian Orthodox brothers and sisters.
b.) No commitment to unity on the part of the Ukrainian Catholic Church would be credible unless we first strive for unity with our orthodox brethren, who are closest to our church historically, spiritually, and liturgcally.
c.) The official dialogue between Rome and Constantinople, the respective centres of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, has come to a standstill over a political impassé concerning the status of Eastern Catholic Churches. Our Church falls within this category.
d.) The Ukrainian Catholic Church almost by definition is a church of unity (and at one time was referred to as the "uniate" church) in as much as it combines the liturgical and theological tradition of the Byzantine Church with Catholicism.
e.) Direct dialogue between the Ukrainian Catholic Church and Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Eastern Europe has become increasingly more interesting, particularly in the aftermatrh of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

What might this unity look like?

a.) In the short term, the types of actions that seem feasible might include:
-free intercommunion (attendance at each others churches and partaking of the Holy Eucharist)
-free concelebration of liturgical services, especially the Divine Liturgy (the Eucharistic celebration, or Mass).
b.) More problems arise if one goes beyond that and tries to tie the Eastern Catholic churches and the Orthodox churches together jurisdictionally.
-theoretically possible to have a unified church with its own patriarchate and church (canon) law.
-could be in union with Rome and Constantinople at the same time, without Rome and Constantinople being in direct union with each other.

What about Christian unity beyond the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches?

a.) First of all, we must look at our own backyard. within the Catholic Church itself, there is a need for a greater level of understanding between the Latin Rite Church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches At times we feel subsumed due to the vastly greater numbers within the Latin Rite Church.
b.) On a broader level, our Church is too small to have any direct impact on the international scene.
c.) However, as a part of the Universal Church, we spiritually take part in all endeavours towards unity from a broader perspective.

What are the greatest challenges facing your church?

a.) Language
It is a tradition in the Eastern churches to use the vernacular. The vernacular used may be in a poetic form and slightly antiquated,(sometimes more or less, e.g. Church Slavonic), yet it is the vernacular. We now use Ukrainian and English in Canada. Greek, the original language of our services, is not used.
Over time, a notion developed whereby some people came to associate "Ukrainian" with "Byzantine" or "Eastern", and "English" with, believe it or not, "Polish" or "Roman" Catholicism.
Sometimes this idea led and leads to the misconception of what is Byzantine. Some people feel that just because something is done in Ukrainian, it is Byzantine and traditional, which is not necessarily the case. English is just as suitable a language with which to express the Byzantine mind. After all, Byzantine liturgy and theology were not written in Ukrainian or English, but mostly in Greek and Syriac.
This mindset, along with a felt need to preserve the Ukrainian language within the church institution, as its use as a language in the home or in society at large is diminishing, leads to an antipathy towards the use of English within the Church.
We are thus left with a tension in the Church that we must live and deal with. We cannot deny the validity of the use of the vernacular, because first and foremost, the Church must transmit the faith, which cannot depend on language, to the people.
At the same time, we must recognize and accept that if one is raised to worship in a particular language (learn one's prayers in Ukrainian, attend liturgies in Ukrainian, learn hymns in Ukrainian, and even the religious greetings on major holidays), one simply does not feel at home if services are done in another language, even if one understands it perfectly (analogy: bilingual anglophone attending French services).
We therefore must respect the views of persons who have lived in a Ukrainian religious atmosphere all their lives and at the same time try to fulfill the needs of English speaking Ukrainian Catholics.
Steps taken to deal with this issue:
-services in both languages (one can choose)
-mixed language services
-vast majority of theological and spiritual publications in English.
b.) Preserve identity
A second challenge is to maintain the identity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the Western World as far as liturgies, forms of devotions, music, theology and spirituality are concerned.
The Roman Catholic Church does not intend to or deliberatley set out to incorporate the Ukrainian Catholic Church, but as it is so much larger, it cannot help but have a major impact on us, e.g. the use of hymns at English language services.
At times, e.g. the Second Vatican Council, Rome reminds or even demands us to follow or restore our own Tradition.
c.) Dealing with today's society
Another primary challenge is to transmit a definitive truth to the faithful in a pluralistic and increasingly secular society.
Belief in an ultimate truth is contrary to a pluralistic mentality which accepts that contrary truths can coexist. Pluralism teaches that everything is OK, as long as it works for you and makes you feel happy.
This is directly at odds with the teachings of our Church. Faith is intended to mould us and define our experiences. Our experiences, feelings, and desires, are not to mould our faith.
(One may well say that taking this position throws a roadblock into the path of Christian unity: No one ever said that the endeavour towards church unity would be an easy one. Nonetheless, we cannot sacrifice the Truth on the altar of love.)
d.) Reaching out to Youth
A major challenge facing our Church is keeping the young people within the fold. One problem is language - that has been referred to earlier and is no longer as big a problem as it has been over the past two decades or so.
The bigger problem is dealing with a secular consumer mentality. Young people come to Church expecting to be entertained. They are like tourists who come to see what exciting or interesting things are happening.
This attitude is difficult to deal with in a church that relies strongly on tradition, repetition in liturgical services, and on active participation of the faithful in the services. There is not much in the way of entertainment unless the faithful are prepared to participate and not just sit back expecting someone else to make the services interesting for them.
Another difficulty with young people is that the pluralistic mentality they encounter in society is completely at odds with church teachings. Sometimes, we tend to stay away from controversial issues in the fear of offending somebody. In doing so, we fail to recognize the needs of youth to have some definitive guidance as they encounter new situations and new ideas in their daily lives.
e.) The Calendar Issue
Which calendar to use for purposes of the liturgical year is an issue which gives rise to some controversy in the Church.
As with language, some people associate the Julian Calendar (give explaination) with Byzantine tradition. They view the Gregorian calendar (explain) as a move away from tradition.
Often, families who use English in the home follow the Gregorian (or new) calendar. However, it does not follow that families who tend to be more Ukrainian follow the Julian Calendar. They are divided on the calendar issue, sometimes for reasons of practicality: it is practical to celebrate the holidays when one is off work, for example, or the children are home from school.
Within our Church, some parishes follow the Gregorian calendar, others follow the Julian. In some parishes, parishioners are divided on the issue and priests end up celebrating the liturgical services for the major holidays twice. This causes a lot of stress given the current shortage of priests within the province of Saskatchewan.

What would you like to say to other churches?

While recognizing that we have differences in beliefs and practices, it is vital that we respect each other without giving up our own beliefs.
No dialogue towards unity can proceed without mutual respect. Certainly, no unity can be achieved unless the parties concerned respect each other sufficiently to listen to what the other has to say.

Father Nikolaj, having grown up in Austria and in Canada, and now serving here in Saskatoon, how would you characterize the main differences between the Ukrainian Catholic Church here and in your home country?

Influence of western culture is not as strong, or better, as far as Tradition is concerned, the Ukrainian Church is more "sure-footed". It has existed in Austria for some 200 years. Although Austria is 90% Roman Catholic, the pressure seems lesser than here. The issues are different ones. Married clergy is no issue, the calendar is no issue (the new one is used), no liturgical services or practices have been adapted from the Roman Catholic Church (e.g. Rosary, Stations of the Cross, kneeling during services, etc.), yet as far as the faith and getting our message across to the youth is concerned , the problems are, although maybe on a different level, fundamentaly the same.

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Prepared by:
Marusia Kobrynsky:
Member of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Sutherland. Originally from Canora, SK. Married to Don McKinnon. Two children, Keith and Katrina. Studied law in Saskatoon. Both lawyers in Saskatoon.
Rev. Nikolaj Hornykewycz:
Associate Pastor, St. George's Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, Saskatoon. Born and raised in Vienna, Austria. Studied theology in Rome, Italy (Oriental Institute). Married to Karin, medical doctor, two children: Anna and Jeremiah. Ordained to the Priesthood in Lviv, Ukraine.