Building Cathedrals

By Volodymyr Kish

This year marks the one thousand and twenty fifth anniversary of when my namesake, Volodymyr the Great, brought Christianity to Ukraine. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will be commemorating the occasion with the consecration of their new Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv on August 17-18. The Cathedral has been “under construction” ever since the first stone was laid in 2002, and to be accurate, has already been in liturgical and administrative use for some time now. The first mass was served in the completed basement in 2006, while the administrative offices of the Catholic Patriarchate were moved to Kyiv back in September of 2005. Also, to be accurate, the Cathedral will still not be 100% complete come this August, but the church’s leaders have decided that because of the significance of this anniversary year, it would be a good time from both a political and public relations point of view to have the official consecration now.

Shortly after Ukraine became independent and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was once again allowed to practice its faith in the open, unfettered by Soviet oppression and suppression, the idea was put forth to erect a showpiece cathedral in the country’s capital that would serve as both the church’s spiritual as well as administrative center. The idea was bold, provocative and controversial, as Lviv had served as the Church’s seat of power ever since it was formed in the aftermath of the Union of Brest in 1595. This reflected Ukraine’s political and religious reality, wherein Western Ukraine was predominantly Catholic, whereas Central and Eastern Ukraine were Orthodox, with Kyiv as their political and religious center.

By locating and building its primary Cathedral in Kyiv, the Catholic Church in Ukraine was really making a strong strategic statement to the effect that it was no longer content to be viewed as just a Western Ukrainian church, but was expanding its sphere of operations to all of the territory of current day Ukraine. It was also recognition that Kyiv is where power of all sorts - political, financial, cultural and religious is centered, and if it was to be taken seriously in the corridors of power, then it needed a strong presence there.

Needless to say, the initiative ruffled more than a few feathers, particularly the Moscow Patriarchate (MP) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who have always viewed Kyiv and all territories east of Halychyna as their exclusive preserve, and consider the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and its adherents as little more than schismatics, if not heretics. The current Yanukovich regime has intimate links and the strong support of the MP, and has also not looked favourably on this turn of events, making the building of the Cathedral no easy matter. The other two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, the Kyivan Patriarchate and the Autocephalous Orthodox Church have also demonstrated different degrees of unease with their Catholic cousins and spiritual competitors. Lastly, even amongst the Catholics themselves there is some dissent about the move , particularly in Lviv, which feels it is now being snubbed after having been the Church’s capital and main base of support for over four hundred years.

Regardless, the Cathedral is nearing completion and, with a dynamic new Patriarch, Sviatoslav Shewchuk (elected in 2011), the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is embarking on an ambitious program to be recognized as a major player in Ukraine’s future evolution as a democratic, free and presumably Christian state.

The Cathedral itself is quite impressive. It has been built on the left bank of the Dnipro, almost directly across the river from the famous and historic golden domes of the Pecherska Lavra. It is some 61 metres high, has five domes and can accommodate some 1,500 worshippers. It was originally budgeted to cost $10 Million, however, though official numbers are not available, most experts acknowledge that that number has been exceeded by at least several million. A major new fund-raising initiative is currently being launched that will attempt to raise the funds that will be required to bring it to completion.

The key thing to remember is that this cathedral is more than just a house of worship. It is intended to be imposing and impressive, both prerequisites towards emphasizing symbolically at least, that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine was, and has every intention of continuing to be a major force in the country’s affairs. The some four million Catholics in Ukraine and at least an equivalent number in the diaspora will make sure of that.