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No. 18
THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 2, 2010
41
Cardinal McCarrick sees “a new chapter” in Ukrainian Church’s life
by Petro Didula
LVIV – Cardinal Theodore McCarrick,
archbishop emeritus of Washington, visited
the Ukrainian Catholic University
(UCU) in Lviv on March 6.
The cardinal’s visit was connected with
his long interest in the development of
the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.
From 1992 to 1997 he was head of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Office to Aid the Church in Central and
Eastern Europe. Before traveling to Lviv,
the cardinal visited the Baltic countries.
The current director of the Office to
Aid the Church in Central and Eastern
Europe, the Rev. James McCann, S.J.,
and Executive Director Patrick Mark
accompanied the cardinal during his visit
to UCU.
Dr. Taras Dobko, senior vice-rector of
the university, acquainted the cardinal
with various aspects of the university’s
activities. The cardinal visited the site
where the university is constructing new
buildings near Stryiskyi Park and he also
saw the building that houses the university’s
Faculty of Philosophy and Theology.
“I am truly fortunate to have the opportunity
to be here,” said Cardinal
McCarrick. “This is a very important center
of education. I hope that it will continue
to develop and serve not only people
in Ukraine but in other countries of the
world.”
“Ukraine is a blessed place for religious
communities that are trying to plant
their roots in the modern world.
Ukrainians suffered much under both the
Communist and Nazi regimes. And this
led to the flowering of both the Eastern
and the Western branches of the Catholic
Church. And also to the flowering of the
Orthodox Church,” Cardinal McCarrick
commented. “They all suffered under
conditions of persecution. These sufferings
led to many good things; in particular,
they healed many wounds and gave
birth to many martyrs,” he continued.
“They gave a new sense of God’s
actions in this part of the world. These
sufferings also revealed the need for a
deeper knowledge of God’s presence, the
need to uncover those things that the Lord
is doing in our life. This very need found
a way to express itself in this educational
project that is exceptional in its very
essence, the Ukrainian Catholic
University that has sprung forth on these
lands,” noted the cardinal.
Speaking of UCU, he said: “In this
center of education which is actively
growing, a new start for the life of the
Church, a new chapter that will aid in the
understanding of what the Church is in
the life of our people. And through this
the university will achieve great things
both here in Ukraine and throughout the
whole world.”
The cardinal also visited Holy Spirit
Seminary of the Lviv Archeparchy. The
choir, singing the chant “Blessed be the
name of the Lord,” opened this meeting
with the seminarians. Impressed by the
singing and harmonizing of men’s voices,
Cardinal McCarrick noted: “You have
something that we don’t have. And in the
Ukrainian Church, song is truly blessed.
For at services in your churches you can
hear how the angels sing.”
During his meeting with the students
of Holy Spirit Seminary, Cardinal
Dr. Taras Dobko, senior vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University (right),
greets Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
McCarrick noted that theological education
has two aspects: learning and learning
how to teach others. “To know God
but not to know how to pass on this news
to people is a bankrupt ministry. But to
know how to teach but not to believe
yourself is also a failure,” he said, adding,
“To understand the Good News and to
learn how to share this with others, this is
pastoral theology. Live what you preach.”
He called on the seminarians to study
every day and to the end of their days. He
stated that he has been a priest 52 years
but still hungers for new knowledge. This
gives him strength to respond every day
to the challenge of living by God’s law, to
hear the Lord’s voice.
And, he said, this priestly call will help
priests become the prophets of the
Ukrainian Church. “I promise to pray for
you and I ask you to pray for me, so that
together we will become the angels that
the Lord calls us to be,” concluded
Cardinal McCarrick.