Well before Josyf Slipyj was deported to Siberia, Andrei Sheptytsky had nominated him as his coadjutor. NKVD investigators called him “Citizen Sliepoi” and his cellmates “professor,” for he preserved dignity even in the times of trouble. After Slipyj had spent 18 years in internal exile, Pope Paul VI honored him with the title of Catholic Church cardinal. In December 1963 the Vatican pronounced the Slipyj-headed Kyiv-Galicia Ecclesiastical Province of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) a Major Archiepiscopal See. (At the time, it was the only major archiepiscopal see in the entire Catholic Church.) Our newspaper continues to record anecdotal evidence on Josyf Slipyj.
The Reverend Doctor Ivan MUZYCHKA was the Patriarch’s longtime associate. He served as Pro-Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University founded by Josyf Slipyj. Later he headed the Roman Saint Sophia Collegium and served at the Ukrainian Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church in Rome. Now, as he says jokingly, he is free.
As is known, there were very few loyal people around Josyf Slipyj. How can you explain your proximity to the Patriarch?
“I would not say very few. The point is that, to make the church governance viable, Andrei Sheptytsky ordained him as his coadjutor secretly, for it was December 1939, when the Bolsheviks were in Lviv. The same happened later, when our bishops were arrested. In other words, the NKVD was eliminating the UGCC in complete secrecy.
“Frankly speaking, I was not exactly glad to leave Britain,where I had worked since 1953, for Rome to serve the Patriarch, but I had to follow the instruction of my bishop emeritus [retired. – Ed.].”
What were your duties?
“I was allowed to choose. So I enthusiastically took up publishing and prepared about a hundred volumes for printing. Then I taught my favorite pastoral theology at the newly-established Ukrainian Catholic University of Pope St. Clement in Rome.”
Josyf Slipyj was an avid reader. I wonder if he changed his idea of the world after the exile. Did his religious viewpoints undergo any change?
“Yes, Josyf Slipyj was an avid reader. People like him are said to be ‘clawing their way through books.’ He was rector of the Lviv Theological Seminary with over 400 students. As he was to care about the seminary’s entire life, he had very little time left for lectures. All he knew he had drawn from books, in contrast to Sheptytsky who used to mingle with people whenever he could. Yet Slipyj also learned the lessons of life very well when he languished in overcrowded Siberian prison camps among people of diverse ethnicities. He often reminisced: ‘There were geniuses and rascals among those I lived with.’ I think he recalled more than once the lines from Shevchenko’s poem The Caucasus: ‘Who were You, the Son of God, crucified for?’ No, as far as faith concerned, his views did not change. I am saying this for sure!”
What gave him strength to work so hard in Rome after an 18-year exile?
“I think it was prayer, faith, and freedom to work for the benefit of his Church and people. He put up this slogan on the UCU building in Rome: ‘The truth and love for science gather the scattered ones.’ You see, the river Jordan once gathered the Israelites scattered throughout the world. But we have even two rivers – the Dnipro and the Dniester – which have been dividing us from time immemorial. Metropolitan Sheptytsky and his successor Josyf Slipyj shared the wish of reuniting us. I am sure the future generations will also have to work hard on this, for our enemies will not vanish by themselves.”
There are a lot of stereotypes about the UGCC. On the one hand, it is viewed as an appendage to the Roman Catholic Church, but, on the other, the impression is that it stands in the way of an ecumenical dialogue between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Have you ever come across these attitudes in Rome? How can this be changed?
“Our return to ecclesiastic unity [Union of Brest in 1596. – Ed.] was the implementation of Jesus Christ’s will, ‘that they all may be one’ (John 17:21). It is much later that all kinds of experts devised the terms ‘Union’ and ‘Uniates.’ Josyf Slipyj writes in the message On Unity in Christ that ‘there are no essential dogmatic differences between us’ and then wittily quotes an Orthodox metropolitan: ‘We are as much Orthodox as you are Catholic.’ The responsible authorities in Rome are eschewing this unwise debate. Incidentally, Josyf Slipyj always took a clear stand on this matter. He spoke so acutely and candidly that his words aroused fear and were even viewed as a ‘schism.’”
As is known, you have done very much for the Ukrainian women who came to Italy in search of bread. What do you think is the portrait of the Ukrainian migrant today? Has it changed lately?
“I must say they are not seeking bread. Thank God, people in today’s Ukraine are not starving to death, as they did in the last century. No, today each of these women is sacrificing herself like the hired girl in Shevchenko’s poem. It is next to impossible to paint a single portrait here because, since the first wave of emigration from Galicia, they have been very different people – from the illiterate to political figures and academics. It would be futile to rely on one’s own resources only and try to make the Ukrainians self-organize as before. The girls who get married here will be ‘lost’ for Ukraine because they and their children will become Italians. Ukraine will soon see women who come back with their Italian pensions in hand. All they will leave behind is perhaps the good name of a Ukrainian woman and her nation. Unfortunately, they are unable to revive their own creative passions and are doomed to remain a mute emigration.”
You have reached a venerable age. What do you regret and what are you grateful to God for?
“I would not like to complain about anything. On the contrary, there are good reasons to express gratitude. I am especially glad to have had good mentors – from a village school teacher to world-class professors of philosophy. I twice saw service in the Galicia Division, and the experience I gained there was of great help to me later. I first served at a military brass band and could improve my musical skills. Then, when I was ill, I was told to assist an Austrian doctor who taught me some medical lessons that came in handy in my pastoral pursuit – there has never been a shortage of ‘ours’ who need help. God guided me in whatever I did. I am afraid readers may take me for a pious snob.” (Laughs.)
Which of the things that you learned from the Patriarch help you the most?
“To work without letup! He said about this feature of his: ‘Whenever I came to Metropolitan Andrei’s room, he was always working, doing something, reading, or praying. He was always busy.’ I had first learned this from my father who found pleasure in examining his apiary even on a Sunday. I would walk with him and so I also learned the ABCs of bee-farming, but I chose not to confess this to His Beatitude, for he would have made me the patriarch’s beekeeper.”
And finally, Your Reverence, please tell me how you restore your strength.
“I learned to do everything according to the plan when I was in the army, so I have every day scheduled to a minute. Well, I won’t reveal you all the secrets, you will hardly believe me (laughs). The only trouble is that time flies so fast. I haven’t noticed, for some reason, that I am ninety.”
P.S. The Den/The Day staff expresses gratitude to Reverend Yustyn Boiko for assisting to arrange the interview.
