Cardinal moves to Krev.

Kiev -- The administrative centre of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church returned from Lviv in the West to the country's capital, Kiev, on August 21, 2005, whence it had been expelled by the Communists many decades ago. More than 3,000 faithful participated in the liturgy. Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox Church, Protestant denominations and religious organizations, and representatives of the government came as guests to the celebration. Ukrainian Cardinal Lubomyr Husar said that, despite protests and an appeal from a Russian Orthodox leader to halt the move, the transfer was necessary to reflect the needs of his Church and to help improve ecumenical relations.

Russian Orthodox critics in Moscow had charged that the action was an act of aggression aimed at the Orthodox churches. The Moscow patriarch still looks upon Ukraine as part of his jurisdiction despite the fact that Ukraine has been an independent state since 1989; and he still does not recognize that the forced incorporation of the Greek rite Catholics into Orthodoxy by Stalin in 1946 was a heinous crime and an act of cowardice by the then Orthodox Moscow hierarchy. A Vatican official said the decision to move back to Kiev would have involved the consent of then-Pope John Paul II.

Cardinal Husar's official title as head of the Church changed with the move to Kiev, from Major Archbishop of Lviv for Ukrainians to Major Archbishop of Kiev and Halych (www.risu.org.ua).