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| In Fatima, after foreseeing the
tragedy of World War II and the
worldwide expansion of the errors of
Russia – Communism and schism - Our Lady promised
that a period of peace would be granted
to the world. The conversion of that
same Russia was a prerequisite for world
peace. Conversion not only from atheism,
but also from schism. Of course, the
fall of the Soviet Empire could not
bring about that much-awaited
conversion, because true world peace
will not come through mere political
means. Divine Grace is necessary. Of
late, unfortunately, in our diplomatic
efforts with Orthodox Christians in
Russia, instead of working towards their
full conversion, we – Catholics -seem to
be more concerned with maintaining a
“dialogue” with them.
Thus, on behalf of the Vatican,
Cardinal Walter Kasper holds an
“ecumenical dialogue” with the Russian
Orthodox Church, which is headed by its
“Patriarch”, Alexei II, himself a
faithful servant of the Kremlin
authorities. Since the days of Stalin
the Russian Orthodox Church has been
controlled by the Kremlin.
They have imposed a non-negotiable
condition for the “ecumenical dialogue”
to continue: the Holy See must not grant
the Patriarchate to the heroic Catholic
Ukrainians who have been oppressed for
decades for their fidelity to the
Apostolic See. Otherwise, Moscow will
stop the “dialogue” with the Vatican...
We regret to acknowledge with great
concern that His Eminence Cardinal
Kasper appears to have given in to that
unjust demand.
We believe this course of action will
not produce the results desired by the
overwhelming majority of Ukrainian
Catholics, let alone meet the
requirements of Natural Justice.
The Ukrainian Catholic Rite is
already the largest Eastern Rite of the
Universal Church. They have given
millions of martyrs to Christ because of
their refusal to sever their sacred ties
with the See of Peter.
Unfortunately, the Vatican policy of
détente with Moscow, promoted by Holy See’s diplomats since the days of Pope
Paul VI, has not produced any noticeably
positive result – to put it very mildly. On
the contrary, the oppression and
martyrdom of millions of our Ukrainian
brethren was virtually cast into
oblivion, for the sake of the
“ecumenical dialogue” with
Kremlin-controlled churchmen such as the
Orthodox “Patriarch” of Moscow.
In an issue of ‘Church and
Life’ (the Ukrainian newspaper in
Australia, of 22 August 2004, page 2) we
read about the results of the public
opinion poll – the first one of its kind
– carried out among Catholics in
Ukraine: It revealed that 70% of the
faithful believe that “Little attention
should be paid to the opinions of other
churches, the Moscow Patriarchate in
particular, concerning the recognition
of the [Ukrainian Catholic]
Patriarchate.”
We agree both joyfully and
wholeheartedly with them: the Ukrainian
Catholic Patriarch is an internal matter
in the Catholic Church, which should not
concern non-Catholic Churches. Just as
we do not interfere in their internal
questions, they should do the same in
our regard, and leave our internal
affairs alone.
Once Ukrainian Catholics have their
Patriarch, they will be greatly
encouraged to work towards the
unification of all Ukrainians, Catholic
and Orthodox, into one single Rite,
Byzantine in liturgy and spirituality
but faithful to the Apostolic See, free
from the influence of the Orthodox
“Patriarch” of Moscow.
Then the Ukrainian Patriarchate,
faithful to the See of Peter, would make
a powerful contribution to bring the
Christian East back to union with Rome,
thus making a reality of Pope John Paul
II’s wish
that ‘Ut unum sint”
between East and West.
In recent years the Holy See has
offered apologies to various peoples for
many alleged wrongs committed by
Catholics in centuries past. We believe
that the time has now come for a
well-deserved apology to our Ukrainian
brethren to be offered, who have
suffered so much and for such a long
time for maintaining their fidelity to
the Apostolic See. Justice demands that
we acknowledge that, in the meanwhile,
the Church in the West has remained
largely silent to their plight.
The granting of the Patriarchate to
our Ukrainian brethren will certainly be
a visible sign of the Church’s sincere
contrition.
Please join us in a worldwide effort
of prayer and action to beg the Holy
Father Pope Benedict XVI to establish
the Patriarchate for the Catholic
Ukrainian Rite. That is, we sincerely
believe, the first step to secure the
conversion of Russia and the subsequent
world peace we all desire, in terms of
Our Lady of Fatima’s wishes.
Raymond & Theresa de Souza
Director and Executive Secretary of
Saint Gabriel Communications,
Australia's first International
Apostolate to promote Catholic
Apologetics.
www.SaintGabriel-International.com |
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We are, by God’s grace, faithful
Roman Apostolic Catholics, born and bred in the
Western, Latin Rite of the Universal Church.
Having no direct vested interest in the
Ukrainian Patriarchate, we are moved by our
ardent desire to see justice done, retribution
made, the rights of our Ukrainian brethren
respected and that Unity in the Truth may
prevail, for the greater glory of God and
salvation of souls. In a word, the triumph of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as promised in
Fatima. We are promoting this prayer and
action endeavour as widely as possible in the
world through the internet, and have placed the
success of this initiative under the special
patronage of the great Ukrainian Bishop-Martyr,
Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky, C.Ss.R., who was
beatified by Pope John Paul II. |
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Rev. Fr. Volodymyr Kalinecki, Parish Priest,
with Theresa, Raymond and children.
Dominic, Theresa, Catherine, Pier-Giorgio, John,
Stephan, Francis and Claire |
Blessed Vasyl is the one who proclaimed that “The
struggle against Union with the Catholic Church – is
a struggle against God.”
A novena of grace has been prepared to ask for his
intercession. The key prayer is this novena counts
on the Imprimatur of Bishop Michael (Bzdel) C.Ss.R.:
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"O Lord God, You are praised by the whole
world for the marvelous works of Your
saints. I thank You for the grace You gave
to Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky to be a
faithful witness to You unto the point of
death. Through his intercession I ask for
the following favour -
that the Holy Father
Benedict XVI grant the Patriarchate to the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
– for Your Name is glorified forever. Amen." |
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Of course, one may say this prayer to obtain any
grace. Yet, in this particular prayer and action
endeavour, the goal is to pray it worldwide so that
Christ our Lord and God, through the prayers of His
Holy Mother and Blessed Vasyl, enlighten the Holy
Father Benedict XVI to grant the Patriarchate to the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on the 412th
Anniversary of the Reunion.
Will
you join us in this prayer effort to bring about
authentic
Unity in the Truth between East and West?
   
On Christmas Day, 2005, a historical celebration
took place in the Church: the 410th anniversary
of the re-union between the Bishops of the Metropolia of Kievan Rus' and the Apostolic See.
History records that in the following year, the
union was solemnly proclaimed at Brest-Litovsk. The
Ukrainian Catholic Rite shone once again as a bright
star in the universe of the Catholic Church.
At that time, Pope Clement VIII, issued the
Apostolic Constitution Magnus Dominus et laudabilis
nimis, announced the union to the whole Church and
in the Apostolic Letter Benedictus sit Pastor he
addressed the Bishops of the Metropolia, informing
them that the re-union had taken place.
The Ukrainian Catholics paid a hefty price for
their conversion: they suffered centuries of
persecution from the Czars in a vain attempt to
force them to join the Russian Orthodox Church.
Under Soviet Communism, the persecution only
worsened, as the Russia Orthodox Church became "a
docile tool of godless Soviet rule", as Blessed
Vasyl Velychkovsky put it.
In Fatima, Our Lady made it abundantly clear that
world peace would come only after the Conversion of
Russia.
Obviously, She was not referring to the alleged
"conversion" from Communism to liberal Capitalism.
The corruption that reigns supreme in Russia today
is no improvement in the country's life, to put it
rather mildly. Conversion is primarily a spiritual,
not socio-economic, reality. Thus, when, in a
national scale, Russians will abandon atheism and
schism and become full members of the Catholic
Church, then true Conversion will have taken place
as Our Lady wanted.
Conversion will come from within Russia, not from
without. And, given the fact that Russia received
their Christianity from Ukraine, it is here where
the establishment of the Catholic Ukrainian
Patriarchate may play its major historical role in
Our Lady's Peace Plan for the world.
There are three churches in Ukraine: one
Catholic, faithful to Rome, a Church of Martyrs; one
Orthodox subservient to Moscow; and one Orthodox
independent. The Catholic Ukrainian Patriarch will
make a major contribution to unite all Ukrainians
into one single Church, Byzantine in liturgy and
spirituality and faithful to the Apostolic See, as
in the glorious day of St Volodymyr, the great
Ukrainian king who converted his people to the true
Church of Christ.
The unification of the three Ukrainian churches
will exercise a powerful effect on the Orthodox
people of Russia, who will see that their hierarchy
has been, since the days of Stalin, a "docile tool
of godless soviet rule", and be inclined to come
back home to Rome. Blessed Vasyl was himself an
apostle of the reunion of Orthodox Christians with
Rome, and he confirmed the real possibility of
Russia's conversion in his Autobiography:
“There were many villages that invited me to come
to them because they wanted to be united with the
Catholic Church. ... In many Orthodox parishes in
Volyn’, where the entire populace wanted to belong
to the Catholic Church – e.g., Tutovichi, in the
district of Sarn – the police used to restrict me,
used to inflict punishment on the people. There were
many such parishes – almost all of them. Obviously,
the struggle against union with the Catholic Church
– is a struggle against God.”(p.34-35).
The hierarchy
of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin were
of course among the greatest enemies of the reunion.
Yes, the conversion of Russia will open the gates
to world peace, as Our Lady promised in Fatima. She
is faithful to Her promises. Thus the role of the
Catholic Ukrainian Patriarchate is both vital and
crucial to bring it about.
In this context, we can easily understand the
words that Pope Urban VIII addressed to the
Ukrainians, on the beatification of St Josaphat, the
great apostle of reunification with Rome: "Through
you, my Ukrainians, I hope to convert the East" (apud.
'The Ukrainian Catholic Church', 1945-1975, by
Miroslav Zabunka and Leonid Rudnytzky, St Sophia
Assoc., Philadelphia, 1976, p.9).
The
time has come!
We have written to Pope John Paul II, asking him
to make good use of that celebration to grant the
Patriarchate to our heroic Ukrainian brethren. The
letter has been sent to the Secretariat of State in
the Vatican and a copy to the Apostolic Nunciature
in Canberra, the Australian capital city.
Now we repeat our filial request to His Holiness
Benedict XVI.
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To view the letter,
please click on the icon on the right to
download. Permission is granted to
reproduce its full text in any Catholic
publication. |
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Please pass
this information on to as many other Catholics as
possible, so that, once they have been given the
opportunity to know about this endeavour and
consider joining it, we may, through the Communion
of Saints, make together that prayerful violence to
heaven that Our Lord praised in the Gospel (Mt
11:12).
The Catholic Ukrainian Patriarchate will make a
powerful contribution to unite all Ukrainians with
the Apostolic See; once united, they will in turn be
able to work to bring the Christian East back to
Rome.
The conversion of Russia will bring about world
Peace and Our Lady promised in Fatima.
|
Please join us in this
prayer effort. To receive the novena of
Grace in e-book format, please
click here.
God Bless you. |
  In
view of everything that has been said here,
the picture of our days is very clear: We
are in the supreme movements of a fight that
we would call mortal if one of the
contenders were not immortal – the Catholic
Church.
As
children of the Church and fighters in
Her battles, it is natural for us
filially to consecrate this initiative
to Our Lady. The Immaculate Virgin is
She who has crushed the head of the
serpent. The universal and omnipotent
mediation of the Mother of God is the
greatest reason for our hope, and, at
Fatima, She has already given us the
certitude of victory, when She announced
that in the end,
"My
Immaculate Heart will triumph!"
Plinio Correa de
Oliveira
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