15th November 2010

                 An open letter to Cyril Vasil SJ, Secretary of the Congregation

                                           for the Oriental Churches

                                                                                                                                           Msgr. Cyril Vasil SJ

                                                                                                                            Secretary of the Congregation

                                                                                                                                   for the Oriental Churches

                                                                                                                                             Città del Vaticano

Dear Monsignor,

we would like to inform You about the crimes of the hierarchy of the UGCC. Full responsibility for this falls first of all upon You since You are well acquainted with the situation in the UGCC but You cover up that all by Your silence.

You are to blame for unlawful prevention of registration of the UOGCC on the part of the apostatical UGCC hierarchy and hence for joining the heretics in religious discrimination.

You are fully responsible for the recent events in Chortkiv (Ternopol region). Certainly, You receive one-sided information from the heretics but You are intelligent enough to get the objective picture of the reality.

The Buchach eparchy administration of the UGCC (Fr. D. Hryhorak) has committed crimes of religious persecution, stirring up of religious hatred, dissemination of lies, physical violence against religious sisters, terror and deprivation of personal liberty and of civil rights of man. Ex-Card. Husar, through his membership in the half-secret world organization, saw to it that both the Ternopol regional council and police covered up and supported crimes against defenceless people. However, ex-Card. Husar and You have the greater guilt in these crimes, because the state is committing terrorism by order of the UGCC. It’s a shame for You and Your apostate bishops. Moreover, the half-secret world organization, which ex-Card. L. Husar serves, is applying all its strengths these days to implant and enact gender-gay laws and establish the juvenile justice system in Ukraine. And it enjoys unconcealed help of the apostate L. Husar and his criminal group of apostate hierarchs.

Now the events in Chortkiv:

On 4th November 2010, Fr. Roman Shelepko OSBM died. He was one of us, and until his death he was in internal unity with us. Everyone knew it, and that was also the reason why he was dismissed from OSBM without any evidence of guilt, without trial, without proper legal procedure and without any chance of defence. Because of his unity with us the apostatical hierarchy caused him constant troubles and the eparchy exerted psychological pressure on him. His heart failed.

After his death, in accordance with Art. 3, 8 of the law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Worship and Religious Organizations”, the majority of members of the Parish of the Transfiguration held a meeting at which they decided to separate from the heresies of ex-Card. L. Husar and his heretical structure and to be autonomous until registration of the UOGCC is granted. After the registration they would come under its jurisdiction. This change in subordination is the fundamental right of every parish provided by the Ukrainian legislation! At the meeting the parishioners also chose Archbishop Markian Vasyl Hitiuk OSBMr as their parish priest and head. The parish handed over to him the stamp and the statutory documents. From that time on the Buchach eparchy had no right to interfere in the Parish of the Transfiguration! If the Buchach eparchy had held some other views, it could have made a legal claim for example to a shared use of the church and the like. Unfortunately, the apostatical spirit in the heart of Fr. D. Hryhorak showed itself in all its wickedness, inhumanity and injustice. He turned to L. Husar with a request that he cover up everything from Kiev, and he himself “influenced” the state authorities and the police to be silent and even to help in his banditry!

He replaced the door lock of the church, though this church did not belong to him (in accordance with both church and state law), and practically stole it. He called seminarians from the Ivano-Frankivsk seminary, underage boys from the choir high school and a bunch of Chortkiv hooligans and organized them into a gang which committed repeated criminal acts with tacit consent of the police!

Archbishop Markian V. Hitiuk OSBMr along with his parishioners announced to the Mayor and the police that owing to the fact that the thief Fr. Hryhorak had illegally usurped the church, they would like to celebrate the Liturgy at least by the cross next to the church until the situation is settled through the courts. On Friday and Saturday (12th and 13th November 2010), Fr. Hryhorak and his horde prevented members of the parish and religious sisters from even approaching the church and drove them to the bus station (about 200 metres away), where they morally and physically tormented and humiliated them, beating and kicking them!

This curse will fall even on You if You remain silent on such injustice in the Catholic Church. Where is religious freedom, where are state laws?!

On Saturday, 13th November 2010, the rioters blocked the way to the house where the sisters lived. The sisters had been officially received in this house by an elderly woman from the parish. This was the house where the deceased Father Roman Shelepko had lived before. When the police ordered Hryhorak’s horde to let the sisters in the house at the request of the old lady, the horde refused and the police did not interfere in any way! The main leaders of Hryhorak’s horde were Hare Krishnas! Along with the seminarians and priests they sowed psychological terror among the local people so that all were afraid to stand up for the defenceless sisters in whatever way lest Hryhorak’s horde should not beat them. Thus the apostate Fr. D. Hryhorak together with the Hare Krishna sect committed the crime of abridgement of civil rights and human liberties as well as the crime of religious persecution and stirring up of religious hatred. When it got dark and the police no longer had the situation “under control”, the horde beat the sisters again, pushed them out to the bus station and forced them to leave Chortkiv, shouting that it is their town and they do not want them there. All this took place with the consent of the Mayor, the Ternopol district commissioner and the police!

The malice and obsession of Your heretical hierarchy became even more apparent on Sunday, 14th November 2010, and Monday, 15th November 2010.

On Sunday 50 of our seminarians came to help the parish and the sisters. It had been officially announced to the Mayor beforehand that they would officiate the Divine Liturgy at 11:30 am by the cross next to the church. D. Hryhorak, bereft of reason, set 150 hooligans against them, among whom there were seminarians and underage boys from the choir high school. Again the leadership of this horde was in the hands of the members of the Hare Krishna sect, with whom Fr. Hryhorak establishes so-called ecumenical relations! Besides the manipulated horde Fr. Hryhorak sent there about 400 people from the surrounding towns and villages. In the sermon, the obsessed Fr. D. Hryhorak shouted that we were the greatest evil in the world and that we had to be crushed like a serpent. Then the horde started to move against us and the police did not obstruct it at all. They were swearing at us, beating and kicking us, and pushing us to the bus station. There they encircled us and wanted to beat us and drive us out of the town. At that moment the police recovered and surrounded us. The Mayor pretended that he was trying to come to an agreement with us and to protect us, but at the same time he gave instructions for our expulsion. The police threatened to let us be trampled underfoot unless we left within half an hour. We knelt down and began to call on the name of Jesus. The bullies stopped for a moment, but Hare Krishnas, malice-obsessed priests and some seminarians kept on shouting and challenging the enraged horde to bloodshed. The Mayor lost control of himself and because we did not want to leave (as it was all a blatant violation of human rights, injustice and religious persecution), he ordered the driver of our bus to leave and let the horde attack us.

After that, the police and the riot squad had to escort our bus because Fr. Hryhorak sent the Hare Krishnas and the seminarians to follow us. That very night the horde of seminarians and members of the Hare Krishna sect surrounded the monastery of the sisters in the village of Probizhna and threatened them. They pressured the sisters into leaving both the monastery and the village. The sisters remained standing in the garden and called upon the name of Jesus with faith. The gate was “guarded” by the police, and in response to the sisters’ prayer the Hare Krishnas along with the seminarians began to invoke the name of the demon Hare Krishna!!! However, after some time both the seminarians and the Hare Krishnas got depressed and went away.

On the following day, obsessed Fr. Hryhorak sent eight minibuses with seminarians and members of the Hare Krishna sect against the sisters in Probizhna! They fastened the monastery gate with a big padlock and until now do not allow the sisters to come out of the monastery so that they cannot go to the police and to the doctor for legal expertise on the injuries caused to them by the assaulters! At the same time they keep on fomenting rebellion against the sisters through megaphone and threatening them. The police do not obstruct it in any way and refuse to help the sisters to enable them to go in and out of the monastery. Such crimes against religious sisters, against human dignity and freedom and against religious beliefs were not committed even by the Communists. Some of the religious sisters are citizens of the Slovak Republic!

You, Monsignor, are entirely responsible for these crimes as well as for prevention of registration of the UOGCC on the part of the so-called Catholic Church.

The testimony of these events can be viewed on www.video.community.org.ua, www.uogcc.org.ua.

+ Markian Hitiuk OSBMr

Secretary of the Synod of the UOGCC

Cc:

-  The Holy Father Benedict XVI

-  State Committee on Matters of Nationalities and Religions

-  Bishops of the Orthodox Churches

-  General Prosecutor of Ukraine

-  President of Ukraine V. Yanukovych

-  Prime Minister of Ukraine M. Azarov

-  Members of the Ukrainian Parliament