FATHER VASYL KOVPAK

Lefebvrite Priest Excommunicated from Greek Catholic Church

12.02.2004, [19:22] // UGCC //

During a press conference on 10 February 2004 in western Ukrainian Lviv, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), announced that Fr. Vasyl Kovpak, an adherent of the so called Lefebvrite movement, no longer belongs to the UGCC.

“Fr. Vasyl Kovpak, former administrator of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Lviv’s Riasne neighborhood, of his own free will has ceased to belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church in general,” said Cardinal Husar.

“Despite his declarations of faithfulness to the Pope of Rome and the Major Archbishop of the UGCC, he recognized the uncanonical foreign Bishop Bernard Fellay, who does not recognize the authority of the Pope of Rome and is not united with the Catholic Church,” said Cardinal Husar.

In addition, Cardinal Husar stressed that Vasyl Kovpak and his followers are always welcome to return to the UGCC on condition that they renounce their connection with Bishop Fellay.

RISU Note:

The so-called Lefebvrite movement, or the Society of St. Pius X, unites Catholic clergy who have refused to accept some decisions of the Second Vatican Council. The movement, started by Swiss Bishop Charriere on 1 December 1970, was then led by French Bishop Marcel Lefebvre. Today, the movement has a developed international network and unites approximately 440 priests in 55 countries throughout the world. Its current leader is Bishop Bernard Fellay.

In Ukraine, the movement spread in the early 1990s, when Fr. Jean-Marc Rulleau, an official representative of the Society of St. Pius X, came to the country. The idea of the society found support among some faithful of the UGCC who were attached to certain Latin-rite practices that were preserved in the underground period and to the Old Church Slavonic language. After the Second Vatican Council, the UGCC began using the modern Ukrainian language in the liturgy, instead of the classical Old Church Slavonic language that had been used for centuries. The traditionalists did not accept changes in the liturgy, in particular “cleansing” the rite of Latin practices that had come into usage and what they called the “ukrainianization” of the liturgy.

In 1999, three Ukrainian priests asked Bishop Fellay to become the spiritual leader of traditionalist priests in Ukraine. During Bishop Fellay’s visit to Ukraine in November 2000, Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary, not approved by the UGCC, was dedicated and eight seminarians began study there. Under the leadership of Bishop Fellay, a congregation of Basilian Sisters of the Divine Mercy has also opened.

In 2000, the first retreat was held for followers of the Lefebvrite movement, in which over 100 people took part. In September of that year, the Society of St. Josaphat was formed, and now consists of seven priests. This society is a church structure under the spiritual care of Bishop Fellay and today is headed by Fr. Kovpak. Its members maintain that they recognize Pope John Paul II as the head of their church and mention him during religious services. However, they also state that the activities of their organization are aimed against certain tendencies in the church which, according to them cause, are harmful to it.

The society is active in the western Ukrainian Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions and recently has been expanding its activities to eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, working among the Orthodox faithful.

Sources: www.ugcc.org.ua, http://patriyarkhat.ucu.edu.ua, www.sspx.ca, www.dailycatholic.org


RELIGIOUS INFORMATION SERVICE OF UKRAINE

12-02-2004

http://old.risu.org.ua/eng