The New Ukrainian Greek Catholic Patriarch of Kyiv-Galicia: Many Years!

Fr John Salter writes, in Chrysostom for Pascha 2012:


Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk was enthroned on 27th March 2011 in the new seat of the Ukrainian Catholics – the Cathedral of The Resurrection in Kyiv. 

The new Patriarch was born on 5th May 1970 in the town of Stryi in Ukraine. He was ordained a priest on 26th June 1994. Between 2002 and 2005 he was head of the secretariat of His Beatitude Patriarch Lubomyr Husar. In 2006 he gained a Doctorate in Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and became Rector of the seminary of Lviv. Three years later he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Eparchy of Santa Maria del Patrocinio in Buenos Aires and was consecrated by Archbishop Ihor Vozniak. On l0th April 2010 he was named Apostolic Administrator of the same diocese.

At the Patriarch‟s enthronement there were two prelates of the three Orthodox jurisdictions in Kiev - the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate and one of the other Orthodox Patriarchates of Ukraine.

On 29th March 2011 His Beatitude visited Rome with his metropolitans and bishops. On his departure he stated, "I am departing with my bishops and all my metropolitans of our Church to Rome, because it is our duty to make a courtesy visit to the Holy Father…"

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's Synod of Bishops had prepared a number of proposals for the Pope. "We are really going to tell how our Church is developing, and each developing Church becomes a Patriarchate, because a Patriarchate is a period in the development of a Church."

It was not the first time that the leaders of the Ukrainian Catholic Church had petitioned the Apostolic See for the title of Patriarch. Cardinal Josip Slipyj had done so in the 1960s after his release from the Gulags. Instead of conferring the title, Pope Paul VI created the title and rank of Major-Archbishop, which, while granting all the prerogatives of an Eastern Patriarch in full communion with Rome, avoids causing offence to (in this case) the Patriarch of Moscow and All The Russias. But the Ukrainians are far from happy with this title, as they are by far the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches, whereas the relatively small Catholic Copts have a Patriarch. The Syro-Malabarese Catholics have a Major-Archbishop, which has caused some ill-feeling among certain sections of the faithful, who feel that as they are the oldest Christian Church in India, there long before the arrival of Latin missionaries, they should have the title for their Primate - the ancient one, "Metropolitan of All India", whereas the Major-Archbishop's authority is restricted merely to two Archdioceses, dividing the one Church of St. Thomas Christians in all of India.

His Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav is hoping to meet Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow in person. "I would like very much to visit him and hold a personal meeting with him. I am convinced that in peacefully and openly communicating with each other, we can relieve any tension. I think that today, we should heal the wounds rather than irritate and deepen them. One can heal the wounds of our memory only with mutual forgiveness. Therefore, as for any of our brethren or neighbours who wounded us or were wounded by us, the best way to communicate is to be open in a brotherly dialogue, be open to the purification of our memory, to ask forgiveness and to forgive."

The Patriarch was present in the Ukrainian Catholic cathedral of The Holy Family-in-Exile, in London, for the enthronement of Bishop Hlib as Apostolic Exarch.