In a brief interview, His Eminence Walter Cardinal Kasper, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, spoke of the general significance of the Papal Visit to Ukraine and its ecumenical significance. The interview was given during a reception at the Lviv Theological Academy held in honor of the first evening of Pope John Paul II’s Pastoral Visit to Lviv on 25 June 2001.
Cardinal Kasper reflected on the persecution which the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church endured during Soviet times. His Eminence commented that the Pope “comes to a church which has suffered much and has so many martyrs and has so much to give thanks for, the witness of the church.” Though the Pope was preparing to beatify 28 martyrs, it is difficult to estimate the number of Catholics and Christians of other confessions who gave their life for their faith in twentieth century Ukraine.
The Cardinal has great hopes for the now legal and free Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: “Since the liberation [of the UGCC] there has been much reconstruction and renewal. And we hope that this church can be a bridge for new understanding and new relations with our Orthodox brothers and sisters.” The Cardinal reminded Ukrainian Greek Catholics of their special ecumenical mission: “You are a part of the body of the Church. And I think you should be a bridge [to the Orthodox] since you are coming from the same roots of Kyivan Rus: it is the same path, the same liturgy, the same language.” Though the Papal Visit was opposed by the Moscow Patriarchate and some of its faithful, the Pope went ahead with it. Cardinal Kasper gives his explains why the Pope persisted: “Ecumenism is not easy, but it is a command of our Lord that we may all be one … We must approach this task with prayers, with a great deal of hope and patience.”