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Lubomyr Husar

Lubomyr HusarLubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop and Cardinal. (2001-present) Born in Lviv on 26 February 1933, he emigrated with his family in 1944, ending up in the United States. In 1958 he was ordained to the priesthood there and in 1972 he went to Rome and joined the Studite Order. In 1977 Cardinal Slipiy consecrated him bishop for the Church in Ukraine.

Husar resided at the Studite Monastery in Grottaferrata, Rome until 1992, when he returned to live in Ukraine. On 17 October 1996 he was appointed Auxiliary-Bishop to Cardinal Lubachivsky. After Lubachivski's death, the Synod of Bishops elected him the next Major Archbishop. He was enthroned on January 28, 2001 and on the same day it was announced that Pope John Paul II had named him cardinal.

An article about Cardinal Husar appeared in the New York Times on 23 February, 2001, the day after he received his cardinal's ring in Rome. In it he talked about the role of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in relation to Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy. It is a recurring theme for him: here is an earlier speech he delivered on this topic at the Lviv Theological Academy.



Not a bridge, but a mediator

From the speech of Bishop Lubomyr Husar at the inauguration of Fr. Borys Gudziak as rector of the Lviv Theological Academy on 14 September, 2000.

It is often said that we Byzantine Catholics should be a bridge between East and West, between Byzantine-Slavic and Latin culture, between the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches. A bridge connects two shores, but it doesn't have its own essence, its own existence. In itself, strictly speaking, a bridge is just a bridge, but it is never solid ground, and so, in some way, it's as if a bridge is nothing. Therefore I think that calling the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church a bridge is not sufficient.

I see our church as a mediator. A mediator has its own identity. A mediator is someone or something; it is present on both sides. This is a very important position. For the mediator not only connects, but it can also pass on its own sort of life.

We stand on the frontier of two great Christian cultures: the Byzantine-Slavic and the Latin. By force of circumstances and historical development we partake in both: we have distinct elements of the Byzantine-Slavic culture-- it is primary and foundational for us-- though we also have definite characteristics of Western, Latin culture. We must admit that these two great cultures to which we are joined know practically nothing at all of one another: the West neither knows nor understands the East, and vice versa.

Given this background, our church could help these two cultures to begin to understand one another, if it would set this as its goal and make the appropriate efforts. This, I think, is where our great strength lies, and our great task.



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