Reflections From the Russian Border
Going to the Ukraine was a new experience for me in many ways. My time there introduced me to the Greek Catholic Church -- Western because it is united with Rome, but Eastern because of its emphasis on the icon in its worship (and because its priests marry). And going to Kiev, in Ukraine, brought me closer to Russia: its citizens speak Russian and their religion is Russian Orthodox. Both politically and religiously they resent the Greek Catholics in western Ukraine.
I met, for the first time, an individual who had been imprisoned in a Russian gulag under the Soviets. Myroslav Marynovych was an activist for human rights and was imprisoned for this. He went on a hunger strike while in prison and later became a journalist. He is widely respected by Ukrainians and he and I will soon collaborate on a publication. I admired him greatly because, like Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Myroslav emerged from captivity to re-build his country rather than remaining embittered.
Our International Commission on Media, Religion, and Culture met at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. What an unusual place this is! Suppressed by both the Germans and the Soviets, many people associated with the institution were martyred during those days. Now it is struggling to grow and is led by a priest from Syracuse, New York. It enrolls hundreds of undergraduate men and women who are majoring in theology. And the attached seminary contains hundreds of young men who will be Greek Catholic married priests. I was invited to return to the University to do some teaching in between my Notre Dame College work.
I traveled overnight by train, accompanied by two young women, to the beautiful city of Kiev. There is a Russian Orthodox monastery there, thousands of years old, where early monks lived in caves. I attended Vesper prayers there and am still haunted by the choir, the beautiful icons and the incense.
Our Commission was here to reflect upon the role of the icon as a medium of popular religious expression. We learned, in addition, the miracle of rebirth within the former Soviet Union as people reclaim their religious traditions.