Short dissertation and historical note on St. Volodymyr's
Cathedral
In 1950 St. Volodymyr's Cathedral was the
site where the Sobor marked the union of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of
America headed by Archbishop Mstyslav (which he briefly headed after his
immigration to America), with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.
(Bound Brook) headed by Metropolitan Teodorovich. The intent of this historic
union was to reunite all Ukrainian Orthodox faithful into the one resurrected
Ukrainian Autocephalic (Independent) Church, free of any foreign entity.
The parishioners and leaders of St.
Volodomyr's Cathedral were at the forefront of this historic resurrection,
promoting and advocating the return to the one, united Ukrainian Orthodox
Autocephalic Church, which would be free and independent. They pledged to
uphold the covenant that had been passed down to them centuries earlier—that
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had the historic right to exist as an independent
Church.
What is significant is that at this Sobor,
Archbishop Mstyslav LEFT the Church of Constantinople and joined UOC of
USA (Bound Brook). Metropolitan Teodorovich had been sent to the U.S. from Kyiv
in the 1920's, to head the U.S. diocese of the reborn Ukrainian Authocephalic
Church in Ukraine by Metropolitan Lypkivskyj.
And herein lies the paradox. Archbishop
Mstyslav, a Ukrainian patriot down to the marrow in his bones, leaves
the Church of Constantinople, unites with Metropolitan Teodorovich and the
UOC-USA.
Fifty years later and five years after
Patriarch Mstyslav’s death, against his will and testament, the Bishops of
Hierapolis, Scopelos and Eirenopolis abandon all that Patriarch Mstyslav had
accomplished in his lifetime and join with the Church of Constantinople.
Bound Brook's public relations campaign
announced that this was the "perfection" of what began in 1950. This
is clever…. But wrong. It is an exact reversal of what happened 50 years
ago. The Bound Brook Bishops joined the very entity that Archbishop Mstyslav
left in order to unite with the independent UOC-USA at St. Volodymyr’s
Cathedral during the 1950 Sobor.
Interesting to note, that at the 1950 Sobor,
only a mere handful of parishes elected not to follow their leader, Archbishop
Mstyslav, in uniting with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of U.S. (Bound Brook).
The small band of followers remained with the Church of Constantinople--Ecumenical
Patriarchate as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America and most recently was
headed by Vsevolod, Bishop of Scopelos. These parishes joined Bound Brook in
1995.
In reality, Bishop Vsevolod and his
handful of followers did not join with Bound Brook…Bound Brook joined with
Vsevolod, Bishop of Scopelos. The fly has swallowed the elephant and now, due
to intense opposition from the faithful, the fly is having indigestion.
This was done under the infamous "Points
of Agreement" where the sovereignty and independence of UOC of USA was
voluntarily abdicated to the Church of Constantinople by the Bishops of Bound
Brook, betraying their oath – the covenant to protect and defend our Church.
The Bishops of Bound Brook are relentless in
their public relations campaign that they have "achieved what Mstyslav
wanted all along". But what Patriarch Mstyslav wanted was recognition of
the independence of the Church, not its subjugation.
The 1950 leaders of St. Volodymyr’s
Cathedral recognized their role as defenders of the Church - its independence
and the tenets on which it stood: (1) Ukrainian, (2) Orthodox, (3)
Autocephalous and (4) Sobornopravna.
The leaders of St. Volodymyr's Cathedral
in 2000 should shoulder the same responsibility. They made a difference once.
They can make a difference again.