Pregledni rad
Catholic - Ortodox Relations in Ukraine
Nikola Eterović
Sažetak
After Vatican Council II, the Catholic Church improved
ecumenical dialogue with other Churches and Church communities.
Theological dialogue betvveen the Catholic Church and Orthodox
Church is one of the most important signs of this ecumenical issue.
Ecumenical dialogue is one of the pastoral priorities of the Holy
Father, Pope John Paul II. This is evident from the various kinds of
activities in which the Pope engages. It is especiallv visible from his
teachings and his meetings with leaders of different Christian
Churches held in the Vatican as well as during his apostolic trips.
The visit of His Holiness to Ukraine, 23- 27 June 2001, gave an
important ecumenical meaning especiallv for Christians living in this
multi national and multi religious country. Ecumenical dialogue in Ukraine is complicated because of the
existence of three Orthodox Churches in the country: Ukraine's
Orthodox Church which is in union with the Russian Orthodox
Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and is the canonical Church;
Ukraine's Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Kyiv and Ukraine's
Autocephalous Orthodox Church. In addition, the reorganisation of
Ukraine's Greek Catholic Church after the independence of Ukraine
in 1991, has made relations between the Catholic and Orthodox
Churches more complex. This is especially so since the 1990s when
the Greek Catholic communities in Western Ukraine chose to return
to their historic, traditional Greek Catholic Church with its church
buildings.
Actually, it is between the Greek Catholic Church and the two
non-canonical Churches that more concrete problems exist
concerning the properties of churches and ecclesiastic buildings than
with Ukraine's Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The
Representatives of this Church accuse the Catholic Church of
proselvtism and invasion of their so-called Orthodox canonical
territories. Obviouslv, the Catholic side does not accept these charges
that are inconsistent with a modern, democratic State that respects
libertj of conscience and religious freedom, which Ukraine proposes
to be. Furthermore, the Catholic Church in the three Traditions (two
Eastern: Greek Catholic and Armenian Catholic and one Western:
Roman Catholic) have a deep roots in Ukraine. They have existed in
Ukraine since the Baptism of Rus in 988, the time of the Great
Prince Volodymyr. The Catholic Church holds the Orthodox Church
in great esteem, considering her a Sister Church, and therefore
should have relations, not of confrontation, but of collaboration and
mutual support.
The Catholic Church in Ukraine, then, is open to ecumenical
dialogue and desires that the Ukraine Orthodox Church accept her
offer to resolve entire mutual problems in a dialogue of charity and
justice, in a spirit of sound human and Christian realism. This is the
only way to reach the goal of full communion which Jesus Christ
prayed for at the Last Supper: "ut unum sint".
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
38840
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.6.2003.
Posjeta: 3.253 *