By Anthony Barich
CARDINAL Lubomyr Husar was the right man for the job at a critical time to lead the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Eparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia said.
The Church in Ukraine had just come out of the underground about 10 years before the Cardinal was appointed in 2001, Bishop Peter Stasiuk CSsR said, and the Patriarch “led the Church through the critical rebuilding era”.
When Cardinal Husar, whose resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on 10 February, moved the seat of government of the Ukrainian Church from Lviv to Kyiv as Canon Law requires, he was commonly referred to as “the most trusted moral authority in Ukraine today”, said Melbourne-based Bishop Stasiuk.
“His ecumenical skills were outstanding. He spoke with authority regarding the relationship of Church and State,” Bishop Stasiuk, whose Eparchy includes New Zealand and Oceania, said.
Some of the Cardinal’s most important work went unnoticed by the wider public, Bishop Stasiuk said, namely the reorganising of the Synod of Bishops and the building of the structures in the Ukrainian Church.
“He was a wonderful leader and a truly holy man. He has left us all a great legacy … Patriarch Lubomyr was the right man for the job at a very critical time for the Church,” Bishop Stasiuk said.
The statement from the Australian Bishops’ conference added that Patriarch Husar was “very well received by the whole Catholic Church in Australia”.
Patriarch Husar visited Australia twice.
The first time was in 1999 for the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Australia and in 2001, only days after his election to the post as head of the Church, he came for the funeral of the first Bishop of Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, His Grace, Ivan Prasko.
Most Reverend Ihor Vozniak CSsR, Archbishop of Lviv (Ukraine) has been appointed Administrator of the Patriarchal Church. Ukrainian Catholic Bishops from around the globe will gather in Lviv, Ukraine on 18 March for a special Synod called to elect a successor to His Beatitude.
The more than 45 members of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church represent not only the Church in Ukraine, but also local Churches in North and South America and Australia, as well as in Western and Eastern Europe. The majority of the estimated 6.5 million Ukrainian Catholics reside in Ukraine.