The new pope and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Apr 12th 2013, 15:42 by A.C.
METROPOLITAN Hilarion of Volokolamsk, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, recently expressed hope that the new pope, Francis, will continue the policy of rapprochement with the Orthodox Church and will not support, what he calls the expansion of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics. “The union is the most painful topic in the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue, in relations between the Orthodox and the Catholics. If the pope will support the union, then, of course, it will bring no good," he said
The metropolitan is worried: it is said that the new pope has an affinity for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC). So much so that one Russian commentator claimed that in Francis, “we have a Ukrainian pope”. This may worsen relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Church Greek Catholics.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church confuses most outsiders. It is an Eastern rite church that is in communion with Vatican. Drawing on the Christian legacy of medieval Kievan-Rus', it was officially founded through the 1696 Union of Brest (hence the church’s other widespread name, Uniate). “Greek” was added later to distinguish it from the Roman Catholic Church.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the new pope, had a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest as his mentor and is familiar with the Church's rites, says Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the UGCC. Mr Shevchuk previously served in Buenos Aires and got to know the future pope there. Many in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church hope that Francis will elevate it to a patriarchate, from its current status as a Major Archbishopate.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/04/ukraines-greek-catholic-church
