The Ukrainian Weekly, 2017

INSIDE: l Why Putin can’t allow Ukraine to succeed – page 6 l In Memoriam: Cardinal Lubomyr Husar – page 7 l Community: news from around New Jersey – page 15 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXV No. 24 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2017 $2.00 Russia’s denial of Ukrainian identity Cardinal Lubomyr Husar laid to rest at heart of library closure in Moscow in crypt of Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv by Mark Raczkiewycz ture today was present. People will proba- bly recall this in a couple of decades ... in KYIV – Russia’s timeworn orchestrated the same way as we remember 1937” [the efforts to denigrate Ukrainian identity and height of the Stalin-era show trials]. culture were on full display this week when Ever since Ms. Sharina was placed under a judge convicted the head of the country’s house arrest in October 2015, when this only state-run Ukrainian literature library case started, rights groups have con- located in Moscow for “extremism.” demned her prosecution at an institution A municipal court on June 5 in the capi- that has roots dating to 1918 and which tal gave Natalia Sharina, a native Muscovite existed before Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and ethnic Russian, a four-year suspended ordered his henchmen to close it down in sentence for “inciting national enmity or 1949 and which was resurrected almost a hatred.” half-century later. Ostensibly, it was because a banned Russian authorities are currently shut- book authored by a Ukrainian nationalist tering the institution, which also held was found at the library. Ms. Sharina insists events that included lectures by Ukrainian the book was planted at the library, which artists and renowned writers, concerts, and was established in 1989 during the twilight informative gatherings on Ukrainian histo- of the Soviet Union. ry and culture, like Easter and Christmas. Human rights groups, including London- The librarian has clearly been caught in based Amnesty International, Russia’s the crossfire of deteriorating Kyiv-Moscow Memorial and the Kharkiv Human Rights relations that started in February 2014 RISU Protection Group, as well as pro-Ukrainian when Russian soldiers invaded and subse- Inside Kyiv’s Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, hierarchs pay their advocacy groups, denounced Ms. Sharina’s quently annexed Ukraine’s territory of last respects to Cardinal Lubomyr Husar. prosecution. Crimea. In April of the same year, Moscow The former chief librarian, age 59, was started a hybrid war in the easternmost PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Funeral services for Sviatoslav; Archbishop Cyril Vasil, secretary also given a four-year probation term and Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that eventu- Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, the former pri- of the Congregation for the Eastern told the court the case was not about a sin- ally saw more than 10,000 people killed, mate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church Churches, who attended the services as the gle book among the 52,000 periodicals and some 2 million displaced and 7 percent of (UGCC) who died on May 31, were held in personal envoy of Pope Francis; and the books that she oversaw. sovereign territory occupied. Lviv and Kyiv from June 1 through June 5. apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop “The state prosecutor herself admitted Whereas Amnesty International called The divine liturgy and the burial rite for Claudio Gugerotti. during the proceedings that this was a Ms. Sharina’s persecution a “demonstration Cardinal Husar took place at the Patriarchal About 600 priests, scores of monastics political case,” Ms. Sharina told reporters of utter contempt of the rule of law” and Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in and faithful from all over Ukraine and after the ruling. “Not one single book fea- Kyiv on June 5. Hierarchs of the UGCC par- abroad came to pay their last respects to turing on the current list of extremist litera- (Continued on page 11) ticipated in the service led by Patriarch Cardinal Husar, who was revered as the Church’s patriarch. Many public figures, government officials and politicians came on that day to honor the former head of the UGCC at the Patriarchal Cathedral. Pope Francis pays final respects to Cardinal Lubomyr Husar On June 4, following a procession to the cathedral, the coffin bearing the Church Vatican Radio by persecutions.” He did so not only by ty to welcome and communicate with the restoring ecclesiastical structures, but young. leader’s body was placed in the center of VATICAN CITY – In a heartfelt personal especially through “the joy of his own “It moves me to think that today all of the edifice. After the service, thousands of letter, Pope Francis has expressed his story, founded on faith” that endured Ukraine weeps for him,” the pope said, people came to give their final tributes to desire to “be among those praying to the “through and beyond suffering.” “but also that many people are certain His Beatitude Lubomyr; many wept openly. heavenly Father” for the “chosen soul of Pope Francis spoke of Cardinal Husar that he already rests in the embrace of the The cathedral doors remained unlocked, our Brother” Cardinal Lubomyr Husar. as “a master of wisdom,” who spoke to his Heavenly Father.” They are certain, he whether it was day or night, and prayer The holy father noted the “extraordinary people in simple, yet profound words. said, that after the example of his “credi- vigils were read at the coffin. influx of people” paying their respects to “His was the wisdom of the Gospel, the ble and coherent life” they will “continue In their farewell speeches, clergymen the former head of the Ukrainian Greek- bread of the Word of God broken for the to benefit from his prayer, with which he remembered the former major archbishop Catholic Church. This, he said, “is an elo- simple, for the suffering, for all those seek- will continue to protect his people who with warmth and love. The words of Patriarch Sviatoslav were especially mov- quent sign of what he has been: one of the ing dignity.” After his ministry as “father are still suffering, marked by violence and ing. Speaking about the former patriarch of highest and most respected moral authori- and head” of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic insecurity, and yet certain that the love of the UGCC, his successor called him a “kob- ties of the Ukrainian people in recent Church, the pope said, and with the onset Christ does not disappoint.” zar” of the new Ukraine and the “soul of decades.” of old age and illness, Cardinal Husar’s Pope Francis concluded his letter with every Ukrainian.” Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, major arch- presence became “even more intense and a note of gratitude for “this unique reli- Referring to the “uniqueness of Lubomyr’s bishop emeritus of Kyiv-Halych, died on rich.” He prayed for all, and when he gious and social presence in Ukraine’s his- holiness,” Patriarch Sviatoslav said: “We see May 31, 2017, at the age of 84. spoke, “everyone felt that a tory,” encouraging the faithful to remain Christian was that the power of God manifested itself in In his letter addressed to Major speaking, a Ukrainian passionate about committed to Cardinal Husar’s “constant his weakness; when he lost his physical Archbishop Husar’s successor, Major his identity, always full of hope, open to teaching and total abandonment to sight, his spiritual eyes opened even wider. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Pope the future of God.” Providence.” He called on them to contin- Wherever he entered, everyone rose.” Francis spoke of the late cardinal’s efforts Pope Francis praised him for “the ue “to feel his smile and his caress.” “And the kobza that Lubomyr played is to lead his people beyond “the legacy of warmth of his great humanity and exqui- [Editor’s note: Vatican Radio reported the soul of each of us, every Ukrainian, the ‘catacombs’ into which it was forced site kindness,” and especially for his abili- on the letter on June 5.] (Continued on page 4) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2017 No. 24 ANALYSIS Russian electronic warfare in Ukraine: EU envoys favor extending sanctions published reports linking the movements of Russian military equipment to the BRUSSELS – The ambassadors of the plane’s downing. The reports, released on Between the real and the imaginable European Union member states decided on June 5 by Bellingcat, track the locations of June 6 to prolong the bloc’s investment ban by Sergey Sukhanin that this complex played a decisive role in vehicles including the Buk missile launcher the Battle of Debaltseve (January 2015), against Crimea for another year, punishing that the British-based research group says Eurasia Daily Monitor one of the heaviest defeats suffered by the Russia for its armed takeover of the was involved in the July 2014 downing of The outbreak of war in the Donbas Ukrainian Armed Forces to date. Ukrainian region. The measures include an MH17. Focusing on information gleaned region (April 2014) turned Ukraine into one 3. The R-934UM automated jamming sta- EU-wide ban on imports from Crimea from drivers, Bellingcat published censored of the main targets of Russian information tion was first spotted near Luhansk in 2015, unless they have Ukrainian certificates; a photos of drivers and the convoys of trucks warfare, information-psychological opera- where it was working together with an prohibition of the purchase by EU compa- that it alleges moved the equipment into tions, as well as cyberattacks and electronic F-330KMA command unit. Previously, this nies of property and companies on the place in the weeks before the airliner warfare.

Load more