Additional information from the archives of UOC-USA.
Please read on to gain knowledge and understanding of the battles that
were fought back in 1981 by Patriarch Mstyslav (at that time Metropolitan
Mstyslav).
Letter dated March 19, 1981 on Metropolitan's Chancery letterhead of UOC-USA
To: Rev. Taras Chubenko, Pastor of St. Demetrius Church in Carteret
Rev. John Nakonachny, Pastor of Holy Ascension Church in Maplewood
Robert Hedesh, Parish Board President of St. Demetrius Church in Carteret
NOTICE
On March 12, during a trip to Winnipeg, in the presence of the head of the Consistory the Very Reverend A. Selepyna and Rev. F. Estocin, Archbishop Mark informed me that on 26 February of this year, at the initiative of the pastor of the parish in Carteret, Father T. Chubenko and pastor of the Holy Ascension in Maplewood Father J. Nakonachny, and with the agreement of the parish board president in Carteret, Mr. Robert Hedesh, who is also the vice-president of the Ukrainian Orthodox League in USA, a meeting took place in the parish facilities of the cathedral of St. Demetrius in Carteret, where, in addition to the above mentioned pastors, a large number of priests invited by them from the Orthodox Church of America/OCA or the former Russian-American Metropolia /Carpatho Russian and Syrian Churches, who espouse liquidation of all Orthodox national churches in the USA and uniting them into one orthodox church in America, which would be the Orthodox Church of America, which received autocephalous status from the Moscow Patriarch. The subject of this metting was the discussion of this very concept, which was pushed by the guest-priests. As Archbishop Mark informed me, he was compelled to be present at this gathering and to present at that meeting the basic ideological tenets of our church.
Pursuant to the rules of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church, participants of gatherings which occur without the agreement and blessing of the Hierarch of the Church, especially given the purpose of damaging or injuring our Mother Church, are subject to punishment, including their dismissal from the ranks of priests and faithful of our Church. Taking into consideration that the purpose of this meeting was to propagate clearly damaging action against our Church, which would bring ruin to our Church and disrespect of the testament and memory of our founders, builders and supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA - I inform you of the following action: 1. St. Demetrius Parish Carteret, NJ is temporarily suspended from its rights as a parish of our Church, and 2. The sharpest public reprimand is issued against Father Taras Chubenko and John Nakonachny, the initiators of the above mentioned gathering and 3. These decisions of mine are to be brought to the attention of all pastors and parish boards and the Executive Board of the Ukrainian Orthodox League in the USA. Simultaneously I am issuing a separate directive in this matter to the Consistory of our Church.
Signed by…….Metropolitan Mstyslav