Bienheureux Alexis
Zaryckyj
Prêtre et
martyr (+ 1963)
Oleksa Zaryckyj, né à
Bilch en Octobre 1912, prêtre de Lvov et martyr, il fut déporté, sous le
régime soviétique athée, et mourut pour la foi au camp de travail de Dolinka
près de Karaganda dans le Kazakhstan le 30 octobre 1963.
Béatifié en Ukraine le 26 juin 2001 (en italien).
Au camp de travail de Dolinka près de Karaganda dans le Kazakhstan, en 1963, le
bienheureux Alexis Zaryckyj, prêtre de Lwow et martyr, qui fut déporté, sous le
régime soviétique athée, et mourut pour la foi.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/10557/Bienheureux-Alexis-Zaryckyj.html
Bienheureux Alexis ZARYTSKY
Nom: ZARYTSKY (ZARYCKYJ)
Prénom: Alexis (Oleksa)
Pays: Ukraine
Naissance: . .1912 à
Bilche (Lviv)
Mort:
30.10.1963 à Dolynka (Karaganda - Kazakhstan)
Etat: Prêtre - Martyr du
Groupe des 25 martyrs d'Ukraine 2
Note: Prêtre en 1936.
Déporté à Karaganda de 1948 à 1957. Visiteur Apostolique du Kazakhstan et de
Sibérie, mais peu de temps après il est à nouveau déporté et meurt au camp de
concentration de Dolynka, près de Karaganda.
Béatification:
27.06.2001 à Lviv (Ukraine) par Jean Paul II
Canonisation:
Fête: 27 juin
Réf. dans l’Osservatore
Romano: 2001 n.26 p.1-5 - n.27 p.9-10 - n.28
p.12 - n.29 p.2.5
Réf. dans la
Documentation Catholique: 2001 n.15 p.747-749
Notice
Oleska ZARYCKYJ
(ZARYTSKY) naît en 1912 au village de Bilche dans la région de Lviv. En 1931 il
entre au séminaire de Lviv et en 1936 il est ordonné prêtre par le métropolite
André Sheptytsky. En 1948 il est emprisonné pour 10 ans et déporté à Karaganda
au Kazakhstan. Après sa libération anticipée en 1957, il est nommé
Administrateur Apostolique du Kazakhstan et de Sibérie, mais peu de temps après
il est de nouveau emprisonné pour une peine de 3 ans. Il meurt en martyr de la
foi le 30 octobre 1963 au camp de concentration de Dolynka près de Karaganda
(Kazakhstan).
SOURCE : https://www.bibliotheque-monastique.ch/bibliotheque/bibliotheque/saints/hagiographie/fiches/f0561.htm
(13-15 SEPTEMBRE 2022)
DISCOURS DU SAINT-PÈRE
Cathédrale Mère de Dieu
du Perpétuel Secours, Noursoultan
Jeudi 15 septembre 2022
Chers frères Évêques,
chers prêtres et diacres, chers consacrés, séminaristes et agents pastoraux,
bonjour !
Je suis heureux d'être
ici parmi vous, de saluer la Conférence des évêques d'Asie centrale et de
rencontrer une Église composée de tant de visages, d'histoires et de traditions
différentes, tous unis par l'unique foi en Jésus-Christ. Monseigneur Mumbiela
Sierra, que je remercie pour ses mots de salutation, a dit : « La
plupart d'entre nous sont des étrangers » ; c'est vrai, car vous
venez de lieux et de pays différents, mais c’est cela la beauté de
l’Église : nous sommes une seule famille, dans laquelle personne n'est
étranger. Je le répète : personne n'est étranger dans l'Église, nous
sommes un seul Peuple saint de Dieu enrichi par de nombreux peuples ! Et
la force de notre peuple sacerdotal et saint réside vraiment dans le fait de
faire de la diversité une richesse en partageant ce que nous sommes et ce que
nous avons : notre petitesse est multipliée si nous la partageons.
Le passage de la Parole
de Dieu que nous venons d'entendre l'affirme précisément : le mystère de
Dieu – dit saint Paul – a été révélé à tous les peuples. Pas seulement au
peuple élu ou à une élite religieuse, mais à tous. Tout homme a accès à Dieu,
car – explique l'Apôtre – toutes les nations « sont associées au même
héritage, au même corps, au partage de la même promesse, dans le Christ Jésus,
par l’annonce de l’Évangile » (Ep 3, 6).
Je voudrais insister sur
deux mots utilisés par Paul : héritage et promesse. D'une
part, une Église hérite toujours d'une histoire, elle est toujours fille d'une
première annonce de l'Évangile, d'un événement qui la précède, d'autres apôtres
et évangélisateurs qui l'ont fondée sur la parole vivante de Jésus ;
d'autre part, elle est aussi la communauté de ceux qui ont vu la promesse de
Dieu s'accomplir en Jésus et qui, en tant que fils de la résurrection, vivent
dans l'espérance de l'accomplissement futur. Oui, nous sommes les destinataires
de la gloire promise, qui guide notre chemin dans l’attente. Héritage et
promesse : l'héritage du passé est notre mémoire, la promesse de
l'Évangile est l'avenir de Dieu qui vient à notre rencontre. C'est sur
cela que je voudrais m'attarder avec vous : une Église qui chemine dans
l'histoire entre mémoire et avenir.
Tout d'abord, la mémoire.
Si aujourd'hui, dans ce vaste pays multiculturel et multi-religieux, on peut
voir des communautés chrétiennes dynamiques et un sens religieux qui traverse
la vie de la population, c'est avant tout grâce à la riche histoire qui a
précédé. Je pense à la diffusion du christianisme en Asie centrale, qui a eu
lieu dès les premiers siècles, aux nombreux évangélisateurs et missionnaires
qui se sont dépensés pour répandre la lumière de l'Évangile, fondant des
communautés, des sanctuaires, des monastères et des lieux de culte. Il y a donc
un héritage chrétien, œcuménique, qu'il faut honorer, et préserver, une
transmission de la foi qui a eu pour protagonistes tant de gens simples, tant
de grands-pères et de grands-mères, de pères et de mères. Sur le chemin
spirituel et ecclésial nous ne devons pas perdre le souvenir de ceux qui nous
ont annoncé la foi, car faire mémoire nous aide à développer l'esprit de
contemplation pour les merveilles que Dieu a accomplies dans l'histoire, même
au milieu des difficultés de la vie et des fragilités personnelles et
communautaires.
Mais faisons
attention : il ne s'agit pas de regarder en arrière avec nostalgie, en
restant bloqué sur les choses du passé et en se laissant paralyser dans
l'immobilisme : c'est la tentation du retour en arrière. Le regard
chrétien, lorsqu'il se retourne pour faire mémoire, veut nous ouvrir à
l'émerveillement devant le mystère de Dieu, pour remplir notre cœur de
louange et de gratitude pour ce que le Seigneur a accompli. Un cœur
reconnaissant, qui déborde de louanges, ne nourrit pas de regrets, mais
accueille l'aujourd'hui qu'il vit comme une grâce. Et il veut se mettre en
route, aller de l'avant, communiquer Jésus, comme les femmes et les disciples
d'Emmaüs le jour de Pâques !
C'est cette mémoire
vivante de Jésus, qui nous émerveille et que nous puisons surtout dans le
Mémorial eucharistique, la force de l'amour qui nous pousse à avancer. C'est
notre trésor. Parce que sans mémoire, il n'y a pas d’émerveillement. Si nous
perdons la mémoire vivante, la foi, les dévotions et les activités pastorales
risquent de faiblir, d'être comme des feux de paille, qui brûlent rapidement
mais s'éteignent vite. Lorsque nous perdons la mémoire, la joie s'épuise. Nous
perdons aussi la gratitude envers Dieu et nos frères, car nous tombons dans la
tentation de penser que tout dépend de nous. Le Père Ruslan nous a rappelé une
belle chose : être prêtre, c'est déjà beaucoup, car dans la vie
sacerdotale on se rend compte que ce qui arrive n'est pas de notre fait, mais
c’est un don de Dieu. Et Sœur Clara, parlant de sa vocation, a voulu tout
d'abord remercier ceux qui lui ont annoncé l'Évangile. Merci pour ces
témoignages, qui nous invitent à faire mémoire reconnaissante de l'héritage
reçu.
Si nous regardons à
l'intérieur de cet héritage, que voyons-nous ? Cette foi n'a pas été
transmise de génération en génération comme un ensemble de choses à comprendre
et à faire, comme un code fixé une fois pour toutes. Non, la foi a été transmise par
la vie, par le témoignage qui a apporté le feu de l'Évangile au cœur des
situations pour illuminer, purifier et répandre la chaleur consolante de Jésus,
la joie de son amour qui sauve, l'espérance de sa promesse. En faisant mémoire,
nous apprenons alors que la foi grandit avec le témoignage. Le reste vient
après. C'est un appel pour tous, et je voudrais le répéter à tous, fidèles
laïcs, évêques, prêtres, diacres, hommes et femmes consacrés qui œuvrent de
diverses manières à la vie pastorale des communautés : ne nous lassons pas
de témoigner du cœur du salut, de la nouveauté de Jésus, de la nouveauté qu’est
Jésus ! La foi n'est pas un bel étalage de choses du passé – cela serait
un musée –, mais un événement toujours actuel, la rencontre avec le Christ qui
se produit ici et maintenant dans la vie ! C’est pourquoi elle ne se
communique pas seulement en répétant les choses de toujours, mais en
transmettant la nouveauté de l'Évangile. Ainsi, la foi reste vivante et a un
avenir. C’est pourquoi j’aime dire que la foi doit être transmise "en
dialecte".
Voici donc le deuxième
mot, l’avenir. La mémoire du passé ne nous enferme pas sur nous-mêmes, mais
nous ouvre à la promesse de l'Évangile. Jésus nous a assurés qu’il sera avec
nous pour toujours : il ne s'agit donc pas d'une promesse adressée
uniquement à un avenir lointain, nous sommes appelés à accueillir aujourd'hui le
renouveau que le Ressuscité apporte à la vie. Malgré nos faiblesses, il ne se
lasse pas d'être avec nous, de construire avec nous l'avenir de son Église qui
est la nôtre.
Bien sûr, face aux
nombreux défis de la foi – en particulier ceux concernant la participation des
jeunes générations –, ainsi que face aux problèmes et aux épreuves de la vie,
et en regardant son nombre, dans l'immensité d'un pays comme celui-ci, on peut
se sentir "petit" et insuffisant. Et pourtant, si nous adoptons le
regard plein d'espérance de Jésus, nous faisons une découverte
surprenante : l'Évangile dit qu'être petit, pauvre en esprit, est une
béatitude, la première béatitude (cf. Mt 5,3), parce que la petitesse
nous livre humblement à la puissance de Dieu et nous conduit à ne pas fonder
notre agir ecclésial sur nos propres capacités. Et c’est une grâce ! Je le
répète : il y a une grâce cachée en étant une petite Église, un petit
troupeau ; au lieu de faire étalage de notre force, de notre nombre, de
nos structures et de toute autre forme d’importance humaine, nous nous laissons
conduire par le Seigneur et nous nous tenons humblement aux côtés des
personnes. Riches en rien et pauvres en tout, nous marchons avec simplicité,
proches des sœurs et des frères de notre peuple, apportant la joie de
l'Évangile dans les situations de la vie. Comme le levain dans la pâte et comme
la plus petite des graines jetées en terre (cf. Mt 13, 31-33), nous
habitons les événements heureux et tristes de la société dans laquelle nous
vivons, pour la servir de l'intérieur.
Être petit nous rappelle
que nous ne sommes pas autosuffisants : que nous avons besoin de
Dieu, mais aussi des autres, de tous les autres : des sœurs et des frères
des autres confessions, de ceux qui professent d'autres croyances religieuses
que les nôtres, de tous les hommes et femmes de bonne volonté. Nous sommes
conscients, dans un esprit d'humilité, que ce n'est qu'ensemble, dans le
dialogue et l'acceptation mutuelle, que nous pouvons vraiment réaliser quelque
chose de bon pour tous. C’est le devoir particulier de l'Église dans ce
pays : ne pas être un groupe qui s’éternise dans les mêmes vieilles choses
ou qui s’enferme dans sa coquille parce qu'il se sent petit, mais une
communauté ouverte à l'avenir de Dieu, enflammée par le feu de l'Esprit :
vivante, pleine d'espérance, ouverte à ses nouveautés et aux signes des temps,
habitée par la logique évangélique de la semence qui porte du fruit dans un
amour humble et fécond. De cette manière, la promesse de vie et de bénédiction,
que Dieu le Père déverse sur nous par l'intermédiaire de Jésus, s'accomplit non
seulement pour nous, mais aussi pour les autres.
Et elle se réalise chaque
fois que nous vivons la fraternité entre nous, lorsque nous prenons
en charge les pauvres et les blessés de la vie, lorsque dans les relations
humaines et sociales nous témoignons de la justice et de la vérité, en disant
"non" à la corruption et au mensonge. Les communautés chrétiennes, et
en particulier le séminaire, devraient être des "écoles de
sincérité" : pas des milieux rigides et formels, mais des gymnases de
vérité, d'ouverture et de partage. Et dans nos communautés – rappelons-nous – nous
sommes tous disciples du Seigneur : tous disciples, tous essentiels, tous
d'égale dignité. Non seulement les évêques, les prêtres et les consacrés, mais
toute personne baptisée a été immergée dans la vie du Christ et en Lui – comme
nous l'a rappelé saint Paul – elle est appelée à recevoir l'héritage et à
accueillir la promesse de l'Évangile. Il faut donc donner de l'espace aux laïcs :
cela vous fera du bien, afin que les communautés ne deviennent pas rigides et
cléricalisées. Une Église synodale, en route vers l’avenir de l'Esprit, est une
Église participative et coresponsable. C'est une Église capable d'aller à la
rencontre du monde parce qu'elle est formée dans la communion. Une chose m'a
frappé dans tous les témoignages : non seulement le Père Ruslan et les sœurs,
mais aussi Kirill le père de famille nous ont rappelé que dans l'Église, au
contact de l'Évangile, nous apprenons à passer de l'égoïsme à l'amour
inconditionnel. C'est une sortie de soi dont tout disciple a constamment
besoin : c'est le besoin de nourrir le don reçu au Baptême, qui nous
pousse partout, dans nos rassemblements ecclésiaux, dans les familles, au
travail, dans la société, à devenir des hommes et femmes de communion et
de paix, qui sèment le bien là où ils se trouvent. L'ouverture, la joie et le
partage sont les signes de l'Église primitive: et ils sont aussi les signes de
l'Église de l’avenir. Rêvons et, avec la grâce de Dieu, construisons une Église
davantage habitée par la joie du Ressuscité, qui rejette les peurs et les
plaintes, qui ne se laisse pas raidir par des dogmatismes et des moralismes.
Chers frères et sœurs,
demandons tout cela aux grands témoins de la foi dans ce pays. Je voudrais
rappeler en particulier le bienheureux Bukowiński, un prêtre qui a passé sa vie
à s'occuper des malades, des nécessiteux et des marginaux, payant de sa vie sa
fidélité à l'Évangile par la prison et les travaux forcés. On m'a dit que même
avant sa béatification, il y avait toujours des fleurs fraîches et une bougie
allumée sur sa tombe. C'est une confirmation que le peuple de Dieu sait
reconnaitre là où il y a de la sainteté, là où il y a un pasteur amoureux de
l'Évangile. Je tiens particulièrement à le dire aux évêques et aux prêtres,
ainsi qu’aux séminaristes : telle est notre mission : ne pas être des
administrateurs du sacré ou des gendarmes chargés de faire respecter les normes
religieuses, mais des pasteurs proches des gens, des icônes vivantes du cœur
compatissant du Christ. Je me souviens aussi des bienheureux martyrs grecs
catholiques, l'évêque Mgr Budka, le prêtre P. Zaryczkyj et Gertrude Detzel,
dont le procès de béatification est maintenant ouvert. Comme nous l'a dit Mme
Miroslava : ils ont apporté l'amour du Christ dans le monde. Vous êtes
leur héritage : soyez la promesse d'une nouvelle sainteté !
Je suis proche de vous et
je vous encourage ! vivez de cet héritage avec joie et témoignez-en
généreusement, afin que ceux que vous rencontrez puissent percevoir qu'il
existe une promesse d'espérance qui leur est adressée à eux aussi. Je vous
accompagne dans la prière et maintenant nous nous confions de manière
particulière au cœur de Marie Très Sainte, que vous vénérez de manière
particulière comme Reine de la Paix. J'ai lu un beau signe maternel qui s'est
produit en des temps difficiles : alors que tant de personnes étaient
déportées et étaient forcées de mourir de faim et de froid, elle, une Mère
tendre et attentionnée, écoutait les prières que ses enfants lui adressaient.
Au cours de l'un des hivers les plus froids, la neige a rapidement fondu,
donnant naissance à un lac riche en poissons, qui a nourri tant de personnes
affamées. Que la Vierge fasse fondre la froideur des cœurs, insuffle à nos
communautés une chaleur fraternelle renouvelée, nous donne une nouvelle
espérance et un nouvel enthousiasme pour l'Évangile ! Avec affection, je
vous bénis et vous remercie. Et je vous demande, s'il vous plaît, de prier pour
moi.
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vatican
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/fr/speeches/2022/september/documents/20220915-kazakhstan-clero.html
Les vingt-sept
martyrs d'Ukraine,
Церква святого Йосифа та Воздвиження Чесного Хреста (Église
Saint-Joseph et Exaltation de la Sainte-Croix)
Blessed Oleksa Zarytsky
Also
known as
Oleksa Zaritskiy
Oleksa Zaryckyj
Oleksa Zaryts’kyi
Aleksey…
Alessio…
Alexis…
Memorial
30
October
Profile
Greek
Catholic. Entered the seminary in
Lviv in 1931. Ordained in 1936. Pastor of
the Archeparchy of Lviv for the Ukrainians. Imprisoned for
his faith in 1948,
he was sentenced to ten years in the forced labour camps, and sent to
Karahanda. Released in 1957,
he was soon arrested again
for his faith, and senteneced to three more years. Died in prison; martyr.
Born
17
October 1912 at
Bilche, Lviv District, Ukraine
Died
30
October 1963 of
gastritis and complications from high blood pressure at the forced labour camp
at Qaraghandy (Karaganda), Kazakhstan
Venerated
24 April 2001 by Pope John
Paul II (decree of martyrdom)
Beatified
27 June 2001 by Pope John
Paul II in Ukraine
Additional
Information
other
sites in english
Catholic
Online
Hagiography
Circle
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
Santi e Beati
nettsteder
i norsk
Den
katolske kirke
MLA
Citation
“Blessed Oleksa
Zarytsky“. CatholicSaints.Info. 31 August 2021. Web. 30 October 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-oleksa-zarytsky/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-oleksa-zarytsky/
OCTOBER 31, 2016
The Witness of Chains: Of
Apostolicity and Confinement
RICHARD BECKER
Next year, perhaps, God
willing, we will again go to jail.
~ Dorothy
Day
Oleksa Zarytsky, a
Greek-Catholic priest, died in a Kazakhstan prison 53 years ago. It was
his second go-around behind bars on account of his dogged faith, and he’d
already survived years of forced labor at the hands of the Bolsheviks. Still,
the human body can only take so much, even when it’s a saint’s body, and
Zarytsky succumbed to the beatings and mistreatment, earning a martyr’s crown
on October 30, 1963.
I was doing a bit of
research on Fr. Oleksa, beatified
by John Paul II in 2001, and I printed out some materials I found
online. When I went to retrieve them from the shared printer at work, a
colleague met me in the hall and handed them over. “I figured these were
yours,” she said (I’m the token Catholic at our evangelical college), “and I hope you
don’t mind my reading them. What an edifying story – he kept witnessing to the
Gospel even at the risk of being returned to prison.”
The hallway was lined
with students studying for their A&P lab, and you could tell they were
listening in. I thanked my friend for delivering the documents, agreed with her
assessment of Zarytsky’s story, and, mindful of the undergraduates listening
in, I added, “Going to jail is certainly a mark of distinction for Christians.”
A different colleague,
listening from his office, hastily added a qualifier (perhaps for the
students): “If it’s for the right reasons!” – and who can argue with that?
Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that Christianity and imprisonment
have a long and noble shared history. Religious liberty is rightly on our radar
these days, both here at home and abroad, but there’s little question that
Christians belong in jail.
At the very least, we
belong there as visitors – it’s one of the corporal Works of Mercy that Jesus
himself enumerated in Matthew
25 – although we seem to belong there as occupants as well. Just this
past Thursday, for example, we heard St. Paul in the first reading ask
the Ephesians for their prayers, that he’d continue “to make known with
boldness the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains….”
Those chains weren’t a metaphor, and the New Testament attests to Paul’s repeated
imprisonments for refusing to compromise on the Gospel, not to mention
the persecution of all Christians in those earliest years of The Way.
It’s a historical reality
that was brought home for me when I had a chance to visit Rome long ago
with my parents and sister. They were primarily interested in ancient Rome, but
happily they were willing to indulge my penchant for the more Catholic side of
the Eternal City.
Occasionally, our
interests overlapped – as when we toured the Colosseum, so closely identified
with Roman persecutions of the early church. Another site of mutual interest,
and a highlight of the entire trip for all of us, was the little out-of-the-way
5th-century basilica of San
Pietro in Vincoli. In English, that’s “St. Peter in Chains,” but my mother
preferred the fluidity of the Italian and she delighted in affecting an accent
when enunciating it. I can still hear her voice – San Pietro in Vincoli
– and see her satisfied grin as the words tumbled from her tongue.
Our family visit to San
Pietro occurred long before the advent of GPS and cell phones, so it took us a
while to wind our way through the back streets of the Esquiline and track it
down. When we finally did so, we were hot and tired, and it was a relief to
enter the dark, cool church. Fodor’s immediately
directed us to Michelangelo’s
Moses off to the right. The imposing sculpture, intended for a Vatican
monument in honor of Pope Julius II, was waylaid at San Pietro’s for a variety
of reasons, and now it’s a permanent fixture there.
However, it wasn’t Moses
that captured our attention when we visited, but rather the chains. According
to tradition, the Basilica’s high altar houses the fetters that held bound the
Apostle Peter when he was arrested in Jerusalem – the very chains that “fell
off his hands” when an angel appeared to effect his release (Acts
12.7). After receiving them as a gift, Pope Leo the Great sought to compare
the Jerusalem relics to a second set of chains associated with St.
Peter’s Mamertine confinement
in Rome. When the Pontiff brought the separate shackles together, they
miraculously fused, almost as if to ratify their historicity.
Regardless of their provenance,
those chains in the impressive glass-encased reliquary at San Pietro make very
concrete the biblical tales of saints being locked up for their faith and for
spreading his Good News of salvation in Christ. For my mom, a devout
evangelical, seeing those actual restrains was a confirming touchstone of
belief – a Roman apostolic equivalent to visiting the Holy Land and walking
where Jesus walked.
Of course, that kind of
radical Christian witness didn’t cease with the apostolic age, which
brings us back to Fr. Zarytsky, a very modern example of absolute abandonment
to the Lord. Born in 1912, Oleksa had his sights set on becoming a priest from
a very young age, and the triumph of Stalinist atheism in his native Ukraine
didn’t dissuade him. He attended seminary in Lviv, received ordination in 1936,
and set about his priestly duties with relish – catechizing, baptizing, hearing
confessions, and, above all, celebrating Mass and giving the people their
Eucharistic savior. Not surprisingly, the Communists caught up with him in
time, and he was deported to a Kazakhstan labor camp in 1948.
After his release in
1957, Fr. Oleksa rebuffed Soviet pressure to denounce the Pope and he redoubled
his priestly efforts on behalf of the land’s beleaguered Catholic minority.
Eventually he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Kazakhstan and Siberia,
and he became known as “The Tramp of God” on account of his tireless travels to
bring the Gospel and the sacraments to his vast pastoral territory.
Arrested again in 1961,
Zarytsky was returned to the prison where he’d meet his demise two years later.
But even in jail, this dedicated priest would not abandon his apostolate. Aside
from the comfort he brought to his fellow prisoners, he kept up a lively
correspondence with those on the outside. “Who has God in his soul has it
all,” Zarytsky wrote
his brother by way of explanation. “This is my ray of light, the highest
thought of my life.”
So that’s all inspiring,
I know, but how relevant is it to those of us who’ll probably never face
incarceration? Plenty, and it makes me think of my mother again. Confinement
can take many forms, and, in her case, it was a physical confinement – a debilitating
neurological illness that ultimately took her life. Even so, she
bravely faced each day and sought to glorify her savior despite her significant
limitations and ill health. She desperately prayed for healing, and she was
honest with God about her anger when it wasn’t forthcoming, but she also never
let up praying for her family, for her friends and acquaintances, and for the
church at large – particularly for those Christians facing persecution in the
far-flung corners of the world.
Hence the full meaning of
St. Paul’s reference to his ambassadorship in chains: That, regardless of
circumstances, regardless of whatever might hamper our human mobility or
psychological freedom or even physical existence, we can nonetheless be
conduits of grace and envoys of Christ wherever we find ourselves. “Have no
anxiety about anything,” wrote
the imprisoned St. Paul, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Fr. Zayrtsky could only
concur. “Every day and every hour we have to offer everything to the suffering
Jesus who carried his cross on Calvary to show us how to come to eternal life,”
he advised from inside the labor camp. “Pray a lot. Prayer is our greatest
strength.”
No manner of chain can
keep us from that.
image: nomadFra / Shutterstock.com
By Richard Becker
Rick Becker is a husband,
father of seven, nursing instructor, and religious educator. He serves on the
nursing faculty at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana. You can find more of
Rick’s writing on his blog, God-Haunted Lunatic, and
his Facebook page.
SOURCE : https://catholicexchange.com/witness-chains-apostolicity-confinement/
Biographies of twenty five
Greek-Catholic Servants of God
The
Servant of God Bishop Mykola Charnetsky was born on 14 December 1884
in the village of Semakivtsi, Horodenka District. Upon his graduation from the
seminary, he was ordained to the priesthood on 2 October 1909. He obtained his
doctorate in dogmatic theology from Rome and became a spiritual director and
professor at the seminary in Stanislaviv (now called Ivano-Frankivsk). In 1919,
he entered the noviciate of the Redemptorist Fathers in Zboiska, near Lviv. In
1926, Pope Pius XI, upon the request of Metropolitan Andriy, appointed Fr
Mykola as the Apostolic Visitor to Greek Catholics in Volyn and Polissia. The
ceremony of his ordination to the episcopacy took place on 2 February 1931, in
Rome. During the first Bolshevik occupation, Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky
appointed him as the Apostolic Exarch of Volyn and Pidlassia. On 11 April 1945
he was arrested by the NKVD and sentenced to six years of forced labour in
Siberia. On 2 April 1959 he died in Lviv.
The
Servant of God Sr Laurentia Herasymiv was born on 31 September 1911
in the village of Rudnyky, Lviv District. In 1931 she entered the Sisters of St
Joseph, and in 1933 she made her first vows. In 1951, she was arrested by the
agents of the NKVD (KGB) and sent to Borislav. Thereafter, she was exiled to
Tomsk, Siberia. She was in very poor health and therefore on 30 June 1950, she
was relocated to the village of Harsk, Tomsk, and made to share a room with and
attend to a paralysed man because nobody else would share a room with a
tuberculosis-infected tenant. She continued to pray much and did much demanding
manual labour. She patiently endured sub-human conditions. She finally died on
28 August 1952 in the village of Kharsk in the Tomsk Region of Siberia.
The
Servant of God Sr Tarsykia Matskiv was born on 23 March 1919 in the
village of Khodoriv, Lviv District. On 3 May 1938 she entered the Sister
Servants of Mary Immaculate. After professing her first vows on 5 November
1940, she worked in her convent. Even prior to the Bolshevik arrival in Lviv,
Sr Tarsykia made a private oath to her spiritual director, Fr Volodymyr Kovalyk
O.S.B.M., that she would sacrifice her life for the conversion of Russia and
for the good of the Catholic Church. The Bolsheviks were determined to destroy
the monastery. On the morning of 17 July 1944 at 8 a.m., a Russian soldier rang
the convent door. When Sr Taryskia answered the door she was shot without
warning and died.
The
Servant of God Sr Olympia Bida was born in 1903 in the village of
Tsebliv, Lviv District. She entered the Sisters of St Joseph and served In
various towns and villages as a teacher of catechism, director of novices,
attendant to the aged and infirm. She had a special charism for youth and
personally attended to the education of a number of young women. She was
appointed superior of the convent in the town of Kheriv, and did her best to
see to the spiritual and social needs of the people in spite of the Communist
pressure surrounding their work. In 1951, she was arrested with two other
sisters, imprisoned for a while, then exiled to the Tomsk region of Siberia.
Under conditions of heavy forced labour, Sr Olympia tried to perform her duties
as superior and organized her sisters and other sisters in other camps to come
together and to pray and support each other. Succumbing to a serious illness,
she died on 28 January 1952.
The
Servant of God Volodymyr Pryjma was born on 17 July 1906 in the
village of Stradch, Yavoriv District. After graduating from a school for
cantors, which was under the care of Metropolitan Sheptytsky, he became the
cantor and choir director in the village church of Stradch. On 26 June 1941
agents of the NKVD mercilessly tortured and murdered him along with Fr Nicholas
Conrad, in the forest near their village as they were returning from the home
of a sick woman, who had requested the sacrament of reconciliation.
The
Servant of God Bishop Nicetas Budka was born on 7 June 1877 in the
village of Dobromirka, Zbarazh District. In 1905, after graduating from
theology in Vienna and Innsbruck, he was ordained to the priesthood by
Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky. He was consecrated Bishop in Lviv on 14 October
1912. That same year he was appointed by the Holy See as the Apostolic Exarch
in Canada. In 1928, he became Vicar General of the Metropolitan Chapter of
Lviv.
On 11 April 1945 the Soviet government imprisoned him with a sentence of eight
years. He died a martyr on 1 October 1949 in a concentration camp in Karaganda,
Kazakhstan.
The
Servant of God Bishop Hryhory Lakota was born on 31 January 1883 in
the village of Holodivka, in Lemko Region. He studied theology in Lviv and was
ordained to the priesthood in 1908 in the city of Przemysl. In Vienna, in 1911,
he received his Ph.D. in theology. In 1913, he became a professor at the Greek
Catholic seminary in Przemysl, later becoming its rector. On 16 May 1926, he
was ordained to the episcopacy and was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Przemysl.
On 9 June 1946, he was arrested and imprisoned for 10 years in Vorkuta, Russia.
He died as a martyr for the faith on 12 November 1950, in the village of Abez,
near Vorkuta.
The
Servant of God Bishop Hryhory Khomyshyn was born on 25 March 1867 in
the village of Hadynkivtsi, Ternopil District. After graduating from the
seminary he was ordained to the priesthood on 18 November 1893. His theological
education was enriched during further studies in Vienna from 1894-1899. In
1902, Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky appointed Fr Gregory as Rector of the
seminary in Lviv. Fr Gregory was ordained bishop for Stanislaviv (now
Ivano-Frankivsk) in St George Cathedral in 1904. In 1939, he was arrested for
the first time by the NKVD (KGB). His second arrest was in April 1945, after
which he was deported to Kyiv. He died in Kyiv's NKVD prison on 17 January
1947.
The
Servant of God Bishop Josaphat Kotsylovsky was born on 3 March 1876
in the village of Pakoshivka, Lemko Region. He graduated with a degree in
theology in Rome in 1907, and later in that same year on October 9 he was
ordained to the priesthood. Not long after that he was appointed to be
vice-rector and professor of theology at the Greek-Catholic seminary in
Stanislaviv ( now Ivano-Frankivsk). On 2 October 1911 he entered the noviciate
of the Basilian order. He was ordained to the episcopacy on 23 September 1917
in Przemysl. In September 1945 the Communist regime in Poland arrested him for
the 1st time, then released him and in 1946 for the second time, handing him
over again to the Soviet Union. He died a martyr for the faith on 17 November
1947 in the Kyiv prison.
The
Servant of God Bishop Simeon Lukach was born on 7 July 1893 in the
village of Starunia, Stanislaviv Region. His parents were simple villagers who
worked the land. In 1913, he entered the seminary. His studies were interrupted
for two years during World War I but he was able to complete his studies in
1919. That same year he was ordained a priest by Bishop Hryhory Khomyshyn. He
taught moral theology at the seminary in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk)
until April 1945, when it is suspected that Bishop Hryhory secretly ordained
him a bishop. On 26 October 1949 he was arrested by the NKVD and was released
on 11 February 1955. He functioned as an underground member of the clergy, but
in July 1962 he was arrested for a second time and appeared in court with Bishop
Ivan Sleziuk, who too was an underground bishop. While in prison, he was
stricken with tuberculosis, which hastened his death on 22 August 1964.
The
Servant of God Bishop Ivan Sleziuk was born on 14 January 1896 in the
village of Zhyvachiv, Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) Region. After
graduating from the seminary in 1923, he was ordained to the priesthood. In
April 1945 Bishop Hryhory Khomyshyn ordained him as his Co-adjutor with the
right of succession as a precaution in case Bishop Khomyshyn should be
arrested. However, shortly thereafter on 2 June 1945, Bishop Ivan was arrested
and deported for ten years to the labour camps in Vorkuta, Russia. In 1950 he
was transferred to the labour camps in Mordovia, Russia. After his release on
15 November 1954, he returned to Ivano-Frankivsk. In 1962, he was arrested for
the second time and imprisoned for five years in a camp of strict regiment.
After his release on 30 November 1968, he had to often go to the KGB for
regular "talks." The last visit was two weeks before his death, which
was on 2 December 1973 in Ivano-Frankivsk.
The
Servant of God Fr Leonid Feodorov was born to a Russian Orthodox
family on 4 November 1879 in St Petersburg, Russia. In 1902, he left his
Orthodox seminary and traveled to Rome, where he became Catholic. He studied in
Anonia, Rome and Friburg. On 25 March 1911, he was ordained to the priesthood
in the Eastern-rite in Bosnia. Also in Bosnia in 1913, he became a monk of the
Studite monastery. Afterwards, he returned to St Petersburg and was
subsequently arrested and sent to Siberia. In 1917, he was released and
appointed to be the head of the Russian Catholic Church of the Eastern-rite,
with the title of Exarch. His second arrest came in 1923; he was sent to
Solovky Islands on the White Sea and to Vladka for ten years. He died a martyr
for the faith on 7 March 1935. In 1937, with the help of the Metropolitan
Andriy Sheptytsky, the process for his beatification was undertaken.
The
Servant of God Fr Petro Verhun was born on 18 November 1890 in
Horodok, Lviv Region. On 30 October 1927 he was ordained to the priesthood by
Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky at St George's Cathedral in Liviv, and was
appointed pastor of the Greek Catholics in Berlin, Germany. Sometime later, he
became the Apostolic Visitor to Germany. In June 1945, he was arrested and sent
to Siberia. He died a martyr of the faith on 7 February 1957 in the village of
Angarskiy, in the territory of Krasnoiarsk, Russia.
The
Servant of God Archimandrite Clement Sheptytsky, the younger brother of
the Servant of God Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky, was born on 17 November 1869
in the village of Prylbychi, Lviv Region. In 1911, at the age of 40, he entered
the monastery of St Theodore the Studite; by so doing he renounced a promising secular
career. He received his theological education in Innsbruck. On 28 August 1915
he was ordained to the priesthood. For a long time he was the Hegumenos (Prior)
of the Studite monastery at Univ, and in 1944 he became the Archimandrite
(Abbot). During World War II, he gave refuge to persecuted Jews. On 5 June
1947, he was arrested by the NKVD (KGB) agents and sentenced to eight years of
hard labour. He died a martyr for the faith on 1 May 1951 in the Vladimir
prison.
The
Servant of God Fr Severian Baranyk was born on 18 July 1889. On 24
September 1904 he entered the Krekhiv Monastery of the Order of St Basil the
Great in Krekhiv, and made his final vows on 21 September 1910. He was ordained
to the priesthood on 14 February 1915. In 1932 he became the Hegumenos (Prior)
of the Basilian monastery in Drohobych. On 26 June 1941, the NKVD (KGB) took
him to prison, after which he was never seen alive again. After the Bolsheviks
withdrew, the people searching the prison found his body, mutilated by
tortures.
The
Servant of God Fr Zenobius Kovalyk was born on 18 August 1903 in the
village of Ivachev, not far from Ternopil. He entered the Congregation of the
Redemptorists, where on 28 August 1926, he made his religious vows. His
philosophical and theological education was completed in Belgium. After
returning to Ukraine he was ordained to the priesthood on 4 September 1932. He
was assigned to serve in Volyn. On 20 December 1940, he was arrested in a
church while preaching a sermon in honour of the Immaculate Conception of the
Holy Theotokos (Mother of God). In 1941, he was martyred by the Communists in a
mock crucifixion against a wall in the Bryhidky prison (formerly a convent of
the Sisters of St Bridgette), Lviv.
The
Servant of God Fr Roman Lysko was born on 14 August 1914 in Horodok,
Lviv Region. He graduated from the Lviv Theological Academy. He and his wife
worked very gladly with the youth. On 28 August 1941 he was ordained to the
priesthood by Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky. On 9 September 1949, he was arrested
by the NKVD (KGB) and put into a prison on Lontskoho St in Lviv. The people of
Liviv reported to one another that after being tortured, the young Fr Roman
sang Psalms at the top of his voice. It was then reported that they had immured
him alive in the prison walls. His death is officially dated on 14 October
1949.
The
Servant of God Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky was born 1 June 1903 in
Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk). In 1920, he entered the Greek Catholic
seminary in Lviv. In 1925 he took his first religious vows in Holosko, near
Lviv, and was ordained to the priesthood on 9 October 1925. Fr Basil became a
teacher and missionary in Volyn. In 1942, he became the Hegumenos (prior) of
the monastery in Ternopil, where he was later arrested in 1945 and taken away
to Kyiv. While there, his death sentence was commuted to ten years of forced
labour. He returned to Lviv in 1955 and in 1963, he was consecrated bishop in
Moscow. His second imprisonment occurred in 1969 when he was given a three-year
sentence. This confessor of the faith, already near death, was released to
travel to Rome and then to Winnipeg, Canada, where he died within a year on 30
June 1973.
The
Servant of God Fr Mykola Tsehelskyi was born on 17 December 1896 in
the village of Strusiv, Ternopil District. In 1923, he completed the course in
the theological faculty at Lviv University. On 5 April 1925, Metropolitan
Andriy Sheptytsky ordained him to the priesthood. He was a zealous priest who
took care of the spirituality, education and welfare of his parishioners. He
was the parish priest in the village of Soroko, where he built a new church.
After World War II the era of total repressions began. Fr Mykola personally
experienced intimidation, threats and beatings. On 28 October 1946, he was arrested.
On 27 January 1947, he was sentenced to ten years in prison. Although he had a
wife, two sons and two daughters, he was deported to labour camps in Mordovia.
He lived in extremely horrid conditions, in a camp that was notoriously strict
and cruel. He suffered from severe pain and died on 25 May 1951 as a martyr for
the faith. He is buried in the camp cemetery.
The
Servant of God Fr Oleksiy Zarytskyi was born in 1913 in the village
of Biche, in the Lviv Region. In 1931, he entered the seminary in Lviv. He
received his ordination to the priesthood from Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky
in 1936. In 1948, he was imprisoned for ten years and deported to Karaganda.
After his early release in 1957, he was named Apostlic Administrator of
Kazakhstan and Siberia, but was shortly thereafter imprisoned again for a
three-year term. He died as a martyr for the faith on 30 October 1963 in the
Dolynka cocentration camp near Karaganda.
The
Servant of God Fr Andriy Ishchak was born on 23 September 1887 in
Mykolayiv, in the Lviv Region. He completed his theological education at the
universities in Lviv and Innsbruck. In 1914, he received his doctorate in
theology from the University of Innsbruck and was ordained to the priesthood.
Beginning in 1928, he taught at the Lviv Theological Academy. He was able to
combine his professorial duties with his pastoral work in the village of
Sykhiv, near Lviv where he died on 26 June 1941, thus becoming a martyr for the
faith at the hands of soldiers of the retreating Soviet Army.
The
Servant of God Fr Ivan Ziatyk was born on 26 December 1899 in the
village of Odrekhova, near Sanok (in present day Poland). After graduating in
theology in 1923, he was ordained to the priesthood. In 1935 he entered the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists). During the Nazis
occupation, he was appointed to be Hegumenos (Prior) of the monastery in
Ternopil. On 5 January 1950 he was arrested. At first he was staying in
Zolochiv prison, but afterwards was sent away to Ozerlag, Irkutsk, Russia.
On
Good Friday in 1952 he was severely tortured and he died shortly after on 17
May.
The Servant of God Fr Vitaliy Bairak was born on 24 February 1907 in
the village of Shvaikivtsi, Ternopil Region. On 4 September 1924, he entered
the Basilian monastery and was ordained a priest on 13 August 1933. In 1941 he
was appointed Hegumenos of the Drohobych Monastery. On 17 September 1945, the
NKVD (KGB) arrested Fr Vitaliy and on 13 November his property was confiscated
and he was sentenced to eight years in a labour camp. Just prior to Easter of
1946, Fr Vitaliy died after having been severely beaten in the Drohobych prison
near Liviv.
The
Servant of God Fr Joachim Senkivskyi was born on 2 May 1896 in the
village of Hayi Velykyi, Ternopil District. After graduating from theology in
Lviv, he was ordained a priest on 4 December 1921. He earned a doctorate in
theology from Innsbruck. In 1923 he became a novice in the Basilian order in
Krekhiv. After professing his first vows he was transferred to the village of Krasnopushcha,
and later to the village of Lavriv. From 1931 to 1938 he held various posts in
the St Onuphrius Monastery in Lviv. Later, in 1939, he was appointed to be
Proto-hegumenos of the monastery in Drohobych. On 26 June 1941 he was arrested
by the Communist authorities and on June 29 he was martyred by being boiled to
death in a cauldron in the Drohobych prison.
The
Servant of God Fr Mykola Conrad was born on 16 May 1876 in the
village of Strusiv, Ternopil District. He did his philosophical and theological
studies in Rome, where he received his doctorate. In 1899, he was ordained to
the priesthood. He initially taught in a high school in Berezhany and
Terebovlia. In 1930, Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky invited him to teach at the
Lviv Theological Academy and later appointed him to be a parish priest in the
village of Stradch, near Yakiv, where he was martyred, murdered by the
Bolsheviks, on 26 June 1941.
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20010627_carneckyj_en.html
(13 - 15 SEPTEMBER 2022)
MEETING WITH BISHOPS,
PRIESTS, DEACONS, CONSECRATED PERSONS,
SEMINARIANS AND PASTORAL WORKERS
ADDRESS OF HIS
HOLINESS
Our Lady Of Perpetual
Help Cathedral (Nur-Sultan)
Thursday, 15 September 2022
Dear brother bishops,
priests and deacons, consecrated men and women, seminarians and pastoral
workers, good morning!
I am pleased to be with
you, to greet the Bishops’ Conference of Central Asia and to encounter a Church
of so many different faces, histories and traditions, all united by our one
faith in Christ Jesus. I thank Bishop Mumbiela Sierra for his kind words of
greeting, in which he stated that “most of us are foreigners”. That is true,
since you come from various places and countries. Yet the beauty of the Church
comes from the fact that we are one family, in which no one is a stranger. Let
me repeat: in the Church, no one is a stranger! We are the one holy People of
God, enriched by a multitude of peoples! The strength of this priestly and holy
people lies precisely in its ability to draw richness from this diversity, by
sharing with one another who we are and what we have. Indeed, our “littleness”
is magnified when it is shared.
The biblical passage we
just heard makes this very clear. Saint Paul tells us that the mystery of God
has been revealed to all peoples. Not merely to the chosen people, or to a
religious elite, but to everyone. Indeed, as the Apostle explains, each of us
can now approach God, for all peoples “have become fellow heirs, members of the
same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel” (Eph 3:6).
I would like to emphasize
two words used by Paul: heirs and promise. On the one hand, each
particular Church is heir to a prior history. It is always born of an
initial proclamation of the Gospel, of a prior event, of the apostles and
evangelizers who established it upon the living word of Jesus. On the other
hand, every Church is also the community of those who have seen God’s promise fulfilled
in Jesus and who, as children of the resurrection, live in the hope of future
fulfilment. We are destined for the promised glory that even now suffuses our
journey with hope and expectation. Heirs and promise. The past
we have inherited is our memory, and the promise of the Gospel is
the future of God, who comes to meet us. This is what I would like to
reflect on together with you: a Church that journeys through history
between memory and future.
First, memory. If in
this vast, multicultural and multi-religious country, we today see vibrant
Christian communities and a religious sense coursing through the lives of its
people, this is due above all to the rich history that preceded you. I think of
the spread of Christianity in Central Asia, which had already begun in the
first centuries, of the many evangelizers and missionaries who spent their lives
spreading the light of the Gospel, founding communities, shrines, monasteries
and places of worship. We need to honour and preserve this Christian and
ecumenical heritage, this passing on of the faith, that took place thanks to
many ordinary people, to so many grandparents, fathers and mothers. On our own
spiritual and ecclesial journey, we should always remember those who first
proclaimed the faith to us. Indeed, this act of remembrance inspires us to
contemplate the wonders that God has worked in history, even amid life’s
hardships and our own personal and communal limitations.
Yet we need to be
attentive. It is not about looking back with nostalgia, getting stuck in the
past and letting ourselves be paralyzed and immobile. When we do that, we are
tempted to take a step backwards. Instead, when Christians look back and
remember the past, they marvel all the more at the mystery of God, their hearts
filled with praise and gratitude for what the Lord has accomplished. Indeed,
grateful hearts overflowing with praise harbour no regrets, but welcome each
day as a grace. They are eager to set out, to move forwards, to spread the word
about Jesus, like the women and the disciples of Emmaus on Easter day!
The living and
awe-inspiring memory of Jesus, that we draw upon above all in the Eucharist, is
the power of a love that impels us. It is our treasure. Without memory, we lack
wonder. When we lose that living memory, our faith, our devotions and our
pastoral activities risk dying slowly, disappearing like a flash in the pan,
which burns bright but then quickly fades. When we lose our memory, joy
disappears. Our gratitude to God and to our brothers and sisters also fades,
because we fall into the temptation of thinking that everything depends on us.
Father Ruslan reminded us of something important: that being a priest is
already something great, because in the priestly life we realize that what
takes place is not our work, but comes as a gift from God. And Sister Clara,
speaking about her vocation, first of all wanted to thank those who shared the
Gospel with her. Thank you for these testimonies, which invite us to remember
with gratitude what we have inherited.
If we look more closely
at this inheritance, what do we see? That the faith was not passed down from
generation to generation as a set of ideas to be understood and followed, as a
fixed and timeless code. No, our faith was passed on through life, though
witnesses who shed the light of the Gospel on different situations in order to
illumine and purify them, and to spread the consoling warmth of Jesus, the joy
of his saving love and the hope of his promise. By remembering, then, we learn
that faith grows through witness. Everything else comes later. This is a call
that is addressed to everyone. I want to repeat this: to everyone, to the lay
faithful, bishops, priests, deacons, and the consecrated men and women working
in various ways in the pastoral life of our communities. May we never grow
weary of bearing witness to the very heart of salvation, to the newness of
Jesus, to the newness that is Jesus! Faith is not a lovely exhibition
of artefacts from a distant past or a museum, but an ever-present event, an
encounter with Christ that takes place in the here and now of our lives. So we
cannot pass it on by simply repeating the same old things, but by communicating
the newness of the Gospel. In this way, faith remains alive and has a future.
As I like to say, faith is transmitted through the “mother tongue”.
We thus come to the
second word: future. Remembering the past does not make us close in on
ourselves; it opens us up to the promise of the Gospel. Jesus assured us that
he would remain with us always, so his is not merely a promise about the
future. We are called today to embrace the renewal that the risen
Jesus is bringing about in our lives. Despite our weaknesses, he never tires of
being with us, of building together with us the future of his and our Church.
Naturally, in facing the
many challenges to the faith – I think especially of those involving the
participation of young people in the life of the Church, the problems and
difficulties of life, and the limited numbers of those practising their faith
in a vast country like this –, we may well feel “little” and inadequate. Yet,
if we see things with the hope-filled gaze of Jesus, we make a surprising
discovery: the Gospel says that being “little”, poor in spirit, is a
blessing, a beatitude, and indeed the first of the beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:3).
For once we acknowledge our littleness, we can humbly hand ourselves over to
the power of God, who teaches us not to base our ecclesial activity on our own
abilities. This is a grace! I repeat: there is a hidden grace in being a small
Church, a little flock, for instead of showing off our strengths, our numbers,
our structures and other things that are humanly important, we can let
ourselves be guided by the Lord and humbly draw close to others. Rich in
nothing and poor in everything, let us walk with simplicity alongside our
sisters and brothers, bringing the joy of the Gospel into the situations of
everyday life. Like the leaven in the dough and like the smallest of seeds sown
in the earth (cf. Mt 13:31-33), may we immerse ourselves in the
joyful and sorrowful events of the society in which we live, in order to serve
it from within.
Being little also reminds
us that we are not self-sufficient: we need God. We also need
others, all others: our Christian sisters and brothers of other
confessions, those who hold other religious beliefs than our own, all men and
women of good will. May we realize, in a spirit of humility, that only
together, in dialogue and mutual acceptance, can we truly achieve something
good for the benefit of all. That is the special task of the Church in this
country: not to be a group bogged down in the same old way of doing things, or
withdrawn into its shell since it feels small, but a community open to God’s
future, afire with his Spirit. A community that is alive, filled with hope,
open to the newness of the Spirit and to the signs of the times, inspired by
the Gospel’s example of the little seed that grows and bears fruit in humble
and creative love. For in this way, the promise of life and blessing that God
the Father pours out on us through Jesus not only grows in our lives, but also
comes to fulfilment in the lives of others.
This happens whenever we
live in fraternity with one another, whenever we care for the poor
and those who suffer, whenever we bear witness to justice and truth in our
individual and social relationships, rejecting corruption and falsehood.
Christian communities, and seminaries in particular, should be “schools of
sincerity”, not places of rigidity and formality, but training grounds in
truth, openness and sharing. Let us remember that in our communities we are all
disciples of the Lord. We are all disciples: each of us is essential, and all
of equal dignity. Not just bishops, priests and consecrated persons, but each
of the baptized. We have been immersed in the life of Christ and, as Saint Paul
reminded us, each is called to inherit and embrace the promise of the Gospel.
We must make room for the laity, then, and this is a good thing, lest our
communities become rigid or clerical. A synodal Church, journeying towards the
future of the Spirit, is a Church that embraces participation and shared
responsibility. A Church that, formed in communion, can go forth to encounter
the world. I was struck by a recurring theme in all the testimonies we heard.
Kirill, the father of a family, as well as Father Ruslan and the Sisters
reminded us that, in the Church, shaped by the Gospel, we learn to pass from
selfishness to unconditional love. This means going out of ourselves. Each of
us constantly needs to do that. All of us need to nurture the gift we received
at our Baptism. That gift inspires us, wherever we are – in our ecclesial
meetings, in families, at work, in society – to become men and women of
communion and of peace, sowing seeds of goodness wherever we go. Openness, joy
and sharing are signs of the nascent Church, and of the Church of tomorrow. Let
us dream and, with God’s grace, work for a Church increasingly filled with the
joy of the risen Lord, fearless and uncomplaining, rejecting rigidity,
dogmatism and moralizing.
Dear brothers and
sisters, may all this come about through the intercession of this country’s
great witnesses to the faith. Here, I think of Blessed Bukowiński, a priest who
spent his life caring for the sick, the outcast and those in need, and paid for
fidelity to the Gospel with imprisonment and hard labour. I am told that even
before his beatification there were always fresh flowers and a lighted candle
on his tomb. This is a confirmation that the People of God can recognize
holiness, and a pastor in love with the Gospel. Here, I would say a special
word to bishops, priests and seminarians: our mission is not to be
administrators of the sacred or enforcers of religious rules, but pastors close
to our people, living icons of the compassionate heart of Christ. I would
recall too the blessed Greek-Catholic martyrs – Bishop Budka, Father Zaryczkyj,
and Gertrude Detzel – whose beatification process has now begun. As Miroslava
told us, they brought the love of Christ to the world. You are their heirs, so
be the promise of a new flowering of sanctity!
Please know that I am
close to you. I encourage you to embrace your spiritual inheritance with joy
and to bear generous witness to it, so that all whom you meet may realize that
there is a promise of hope meant for them as well. I accompany all of you with
my prayers. And now, let us commend ourselves in a particular way to the Heart
of Mary Most Holy, whom you greatly venerate as Queen of Peace. I have learned
of a beautiful sign of her maternal love that took place at a time of hardship
when many people were deported and others forced to starve and to freeze. As a
tender and caring Mother, she listened to the prayers that her children offered
to her. In the midst of a bitterly cold winter, the snow quickly melted to
reveal a lake full of fish, which fed many famished people. May Our Lady
similarly melt cold hearts, fill our communities with a renewed fraternal
warmth, and grant us new hope and enthusiasm for the Gospel! I thank each of
you and with great affection I give you my blessing. And I ask you, please, to
pray for me.
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/september/documents/20220915-kazakhstan-clero.html
Beato Alessio
Zaryckyj Sacerdote e martire
30 ottobre
>>> Visualizza la
Scheda del Gruppo cui appartiene
Bilch, Ucraina, 17
ottobre 1912 – Dolynska, Kazakistan, 30 ottobre 1963
Oleksa Zaryckyj nacque il
17 ottobre 1912 nel villaggio di Bilch, nella regione ucraina di Lviv
(Leopoli). Nel 1931 entrò nel seminario di Lviv e cinque anni dopo ricevette
l’ordinazione presbiterale dal metropolita Sheptytsky, quale sacerdote
diocesano dell’Arcieparchia di Lviv degli Ucraini. Nel 1948 fu catturato dai
bolscevichi, condannato a dieci anni di carcere e deportato a Karagandà in
Kazakistan. Liberato in anticipo nel 1957, Oleksa Zaryckyj fu nominato
Amministratore Apostolico del Kazakistan e della Siberia, ma non fece in tempo
a ricevere la consacrazione episcopale. Poco dopo venne infatti nuovamente
internato nel campo di concentramento di Dolinka, presso Karagandà, ove morì
martire della fede il 30 ottobre 1963. Fu beatificato da Giovanni Paolo II il
27 giugno 2001, insieme con altre 24 vittime del regime sovietico di
nazionalità ucraina.
Etimologia: Alessio
= protettore, difensore, dal greco
Martirologio
Romano: Nella cittadina di Dolinka vicino a Karaganda nel Kazakistan,
beato Alessio Zaryckyj, sacerdote e martire, che, deportato sotto un regime
ostile a Dio in un campo di prigionia, nel combattimento per la fede conquistò
la vita eterna.
Nacque a Leopoli (Ucraina
occidentale) nel 1912, figlio di cattolica famiglia. Ha un solo desiderio in
cuore, il giovanissimo Alessio: farsi sacerdote. Cresce e studia, puntando deciso
alla meta: il santo altare. Nella cattedrale della sua città, nel 1936, a 24
anni, è ordinato sacerdote.
È un tempo terribile: Stalin sta facendo della Russia e dell’Europa orientale
fino alla Siberia un’immensa prigione, dove i cattolici sono i primi a essere
perseguitati, e i preti, considerati pericolosi per il regime comunista, devono
essere i primi a sparire.
Non tradite la Fede!
P. Alessio è un vero innamorato di Gesù e per amore a Lui alimenta un
dirompente spirito di apostolato, uno zelo instancabile per le anime, una
dedizione senza limiti al suo ministero. È sempre disponibile, senza mai
pensare a se stesso, con un’indole mite che avvicina tutti, una singolare
comprensione per le persone: il vero stile del buon pastore.
Nella sua diocesi gli sono affidate alcune comunità: perseguitati sì, ma mai
abbattute, animate nella fede in Gesù Crocifisso e Vivo, dall’esempio dei loro
pastori e dei loro martiri. P. Alessio si preoccupa di donare una catechesi
essenziale, attingendo al Vangelo e al Magistero della Chiesa: Gesù al centro
di tutto, la fedeltà a Lui, la fuga dal peccato e la vita in grazia di Dio, lo
spirito di fortezza per testimoniare Gesù anche davanti alla morte, l’attesa
del Paradiso.
Grazie a lui, i suoi fedeli si confessano almeno ogni mese e, moltissimi di
loro, ricevono Gesù Eucaristico ogni giorno. La sua prima preoccupazione, pur
sapendo di rischiare il carcere e la vita, è che tutti possano confessarsi e
ricevere spesso l’Eucaristia. Per undici anni, così: tenuto d’occhio e braccato,
quasi fosse un brigante, dalla polizia del regime comunista ateo e omicida!
Nel 1948, parroco in Ucraina, viene arrestato, a causa della sua fedeltà alla
Chiesa Cattolica. Le autorità comuniste gli propongono di diventare vescovo
ortodosso, separandosi dal Papa di Roma e così avrebbe avuto vita più facile. P.
Alessio rifiuta in modo aspro: "Separarmi dal Papa – dichiara – è tradire
il Vangelo di Cristo!". Ai suoi parrocchiani, prima di avviarsi al
carcere, raccomanda: "Non tradite mai la fede dei nostri padri".
Tutti sentono il grande vuoto da lui lasciato; come sacerdote greco-cattolico
non si era limitato al rito orientale, ma per amore dei suoi fedeli
cattolici-romani, aveva imparato con naturalezza anche la celebrazione della
santa Messa nel rito latino. Dal carcere scrive lettere ai suoi cari e ai suoi
fedeli. Al padre anziano: "Ogni giorno e ogni ora dobbiamo offrire tutto a
Gesù sofferente che portò la sua croce sul Calvario per mostrarci come si
arriva alla vita eterna. Prega molto. La preghiera è la nostra più grande
forza". A un suo fratello sposato con figli: "Confessatevi più volte
l’anno, amate il S. Sacrificio della Messa e allora avrete Dio nella vostra
anima. Chi ha Dio nell’anima, ha tutto. Chi non ha Dio nella sua anima, non possiede
nulla, anche se fosse padrone del mondo. Questo è il mio raggio di luce, il
pensiero più alto della mia vita".
Quel che soffre in carcere, nella mani di quei mostri, solo Dio lo sa: prega e
soffre anche per i suoi persecutori. Un’unica certezza: "Gesù, il mio Gesù
c’è, mi è vicino e mi ama". Alla morte di Stalin, nel marzo 1953, e poi
nel 1956, in seguito al XX congresso del PCUS, sembra allentarsi (sembra
soltanto, perché in realtà non è neppure così con Krusciov) la ferrea morsa
della dittatura comunista che pretende’ di annientare la Chiesa Cattolica. P.
Alessio esce di carcere e subito riprende il suo apostolato, sempre tenuto
d’occhio però dalla polizia, con suo rischio enorme.
Il vangelo di Dio
Prima della fine del 1956, mentre Krusciov (così democratico!) fa invadere con
i carri armati e schiaccia nel sangue l’Ungheria, P. Alessio Zarytsky è
costretto all’esilio a Karaganda nel Kazakistan. Da tutti è accolto come Gesù
in persona e i fedeli lo chiamano presto "il vagabondo di Dio". Intraprende
infatti viaggi pastorali di migliaia di chilometri attraverso il Kazakistan,
grande nove volte più dell’Italia. Per far visita ai cattolici, si spinge fino
in Siberia; nessuno lo ferma, né il clima micidiale né il controllo della
polizia: è rotto a tutte le fatiche, a tutti i rischi, per amore del suo Gesù:
"Ma mi vuoi dire, che cosa non si fa per Gesù?.
In segreto, nel 1957, è nominato amministratore apostolico per Kazakistan e
l’Asia centrale dall’Arcivescovo metropolita ucraino Josyf Slipyi (1984),
futuro Cardinale, che per 20 anni ha sofferto l’indicibile nei gulag della
Siberia. Nei suoi lunghi viaggi, P. Alessio si ferma dove sa che ci sono
comunità di cattolici per amministrare i Sacramenti a diverse famiglie fino nei
villaggi più sperduti. Nei medesimi anni, si reca più volte presso quei
cattolici tedeschi che dalle terre del Volga e del mar Nero erano stati
deportati da Stalin tra gli Urali e internati in povere baracche. Ricorda Maria
Schneider, madre dell’attuale Vescvovo di Karaganda, Mons. Athanasius Schneider:
"Nel gennaio 1958, nella città di Krasnokamsk vicino a Perm nei monti
Urali, all’improvviso arrivò P. Alessio, proveniente dal suo esilio in
Kazakistan. Si adoperava affinché il maggior numero possibile di fedeli fosse
preparato per ricevere Gesù Eucarisico nella S. Comunione. Perciò si disponeva
ad ascoltare le confessioni dei fedeli di giorno e di notte, senza dormine e
senza mangiare. I fedeli lo sollecitavano dicendogli: "Padre, deve
mangiare e dormire!". Lui rispondeva: "Non posso perché la polizia mi
può arrestare da un momento all’altro, e tante persone resterebbero senza
confessione, quindi senza Comunione Eucaristica". Dopo che tutti si furono
confessati, P. Alessio cominciò la S. Messa. Improvvisamente risuonò la voce:
"La polizia è vicina". Quella volta, poté sfuggire alla polizia
grazie, all’aiuto di Maria Schneider, la quale continua a narrare: "Dopo
un anno, ritornò a Krasnokamsk. Questa volta, poté celebrare la S. Messa e dare
la Comunione ai fedeli" (da Athanasius Schneider, Dominus est, Libreria
Editrice Vaticana 2008, bellissimo libro da leggere e diffondere!).
Sacerdote davvero eucaristico
Ancora una volta, riprende il suo apostolato di prete itinerante, senza fissa
dimora, rivolgendosi soprattutto al Kazakistan. Ricorda suor Anastasia Bium:
"Nel 1961, avevo 21 anni e incontrai per la prima volta P. Alessio: il
primo giovane prete che vedevo e mi impressionò per il suo aspetto gioioso, la
sua indole gaia e il suo sorriso sereno. Tutto questo era nuovo per me, perché
i sacerdoti che avevo conosciuto fino a allora, erano segnati dalla
persecuzione e dalle sofferenze. P. Alessio confessava fino a tarda notte e a
volte, dopo la S. Messa, mia madre lo invitava a casa e noi ci confessavamo da
lui nell’unica stanza che era tutta la nostra abitazione. Poi celebrava la la
Messa, tutto assorto in Dio, spesso alle 4 del mattino. Riusciva a dire Verità
e fatti molto seri in un modo amabile. Non parlava mai di sé, dei terribili
anni passati in prigione e delle torture subite. Non si sarebbe detto che avesse
subito tante sofferenze fisiche e morali e che patisse allora forti dolori allo
stomaco. Era sempre spiato e perseguitato. Donava tutto ciò al Signore e
incoraggiava anche noi a soffrire e unire la nostra povertà e le nostre prove
alle sofferenze di Gesù. Nei suoi spostamenti, portava sempre con sé il SS.mo
Sacramento per poter dare la S. Comunione ai malati e agli agonizzanti, dopo
averli confessati".
P. Alessio era in tutto un vero sacerdote, figli di Maria SS.ma, e con gioia
predicava la vita purissima della Vergine Madre di Dio, come modello per la
vita di ogni credente. Era solito dire: "Come Maria, dobbiamo essere dei
gigli di amore e di purezza per Gesù. Sì, dobbiamo fiorire davanti a Gesù come
dei candidi gigli, in un luminoso candore".
"Ho impressa nella mia mente – conclude suor Anastasia – l’ultima sua
visita, durante cui egli ci disse con aspetto serio: "Oggi è l’ultima
volta che sono con voi, poi mi porteranno di nuovo in prigione". Dopo la
S. Messa, ricevemmo la sua benedizione, e le sue parole di addio furono come un
testamento per la nostra famiglia: "Regolate la vostra vita in modo che in
futuro potremo ritrovarci tutti nel Cuore di Gesù per glorificare Dio per tutta
l’eternità".
Martire con Maria
Nel mese aprile 1962, P. Alessio viene arrestato a tradimento dalla polizia
segreta e messo nel campo di concentramento di Dolinka presso Karaganda, dove
tra terribili sofferenze si avvia alla fine. Una volta, alcune donne di grande
fede e coraggio, avvicinatesi al filo spinato del campo, riescono a vederlo in
una scena atroce. Le guardie, dopo averlo picchiato brutalmente, lo calano in
una buca profonda… per tirarlo fuori con delle corde, grondante di sangue. Le
donne piangono, impotenti a aiutarlo, ma lui, vedendole, esclama: "Non
piangete. Questa è la via della croce, la passione di Gesù!". Un giorno
può far uscire dal carcere una breve lettera su cui ha scritto ai suoi fedeli:
"La Madonna mi ha fatto visita e mi ha detto: caro figlio mio, ancora un
po’ di sofferenza. Verrò presto a prenderti con me".
Dopo tanti maltrattamenti e umiliazioni, P. Alessio ottiene la palma del
martirio "ex aerumnis carceris" (= per le torture del carcere), il 13
ottobre 1963. L’indomani, vigilia della festa dei Santi, quando il becchino sta
per dargli sepoltura in totale solitudine, sente dei canti bellissimi e,
voltandosi, vede una "giovane donna", vestita di bianco, che segue il
povero carretto su cui sta la salma martoriata, e canta inni di ineffabile
dolcezza e solennità. Il becchino si domanda tra sé come abbia fatto a entrare
nel campo, vorrebbe chiederglielo, ma non osa. Quando tutto è compiuto, la
donna non c’è più e egli comprende: Maria SS. ma era venuta a prendere il suo
figlio sacerdote e martire della fede, martire per l’Eucaristia.
Il 27 maggio 2001, Papa Giovanni Paolo II, a Leopoli ha beatificato P. Alessio
Zarytsky. Nel 2007, Mons. Schneider ha consacrato a Karanganda la prima chiesa
in onore del beato Alessio, indossando anche la cotta a lui appartenuta e
regalatagli da suo fratello Ivan Zarytsky, tuttora vivente. "Davvero un
santo eucaristico – afferma nel libro citato, Mons. Schneider – che poté
educare anime eucaristiche, fiori cresciuti nel buio e nel deserto della
clandestinità, rendendo la Chiesa veramente viva". Ci servono dei preti
della stessa razza.
Autore: Paolo Risso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92939
(13 - 15 SETTEMBRE 2022)
INCONTRO CON I VESCOVI, I
SACERDOTI, I DIACONI, I CONSACRATI,
I SEMINARISTI E GLI OPERATORI PASTORALI
DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE
Cattedrale Madre di Dio
del Perpetuo Soccorso (Nur-Sultan)
Giovedì, 15 settembre 2022
Cari fratelli Vescovi,
sacerdoti e diaconi, cari consacrati e consacrate, seminaristi e operatori
pastorali, buongiorno!
Sono felice di essere qui
in mezzo a voi, di salutare la Conferenza Episcopale dell’Asia Centrale e di
incontrare una Chiesa fatta di tanti volti, storie e tradizioni diverse, tutte
unite dall’unica fede in Cristo Gesù. Monsignor Mumbiela Sierra, che ringrazio
per le parole di saluto, ha detto: «La maggior parte di noi sono stranieri»; è
vero, perché provenite da luoghi e Paesi differenti, ma la bellezza della
Chiesa è questa: siamo un’unica famiglia, nella quale nessuno è straniero. Lo
ripeto: nessuno è straniero nella Chiesa, siamo un solo Popolo santo di Dio
arricchito da tanti popoli! E la forza del nostro popolo sacerdotale e santo
sta proprio nel fare della diversità una ricchezza attraverso la condivisione
di ciò che siamo e di ciò che abbiamo: la nostra piccolezza si moltiplica se la
condividiamo.
Il brano della Parola di
Dio che abbiamo ascoltato afferma proprio questo: il mistero di Dio – dice san
Paolo – è stato rivelato a tutti i popoli. Non solo al popolo eletto o a una
élite di persone religiose, ma a tutti. Ogni uomo può accedere a Dio, perché –
spiega l’Apostolo – tutte le genti «sono chiamate, in Cristo Gesù, a
condividere la stessa eredità, a formare lo stesso corpo e ad essere partecipi
della stessa promessa per mezzo del Vangelo» (Ef 3,6).
Vorrei sottolineare due
parole usate da Paolo: eredità e promessa. Da una parte, una
Chiesa eredita sempre una storia, è sempre figlia di un primo annuncio del
Vangelo, di un evento che la precede, di altri apostoli ed evangelizzatori che
l’hanno stabilita sulla parola viva di Gesù; dall’altra parte, essa è anche la
comunità di coloro che hanno visto compiersi in Gesù la promessa di Dio e, da
figli della risurrezione, vivono nella speranza del compimento futuro. Sì,
siamo destinatari della gloria promessa, che anima di attesa il nostro cammino.
Eredità e promessa: l’eredità del passato è la nostra memoria, la promessa
del Vangelo è il futuro di Dio che ci viene incontro. Su questo
vorrei soffermarmi con voi: una Chiesa che cammina nella storia tra memoria e futuro.
Anzitutto, la memoria.
Se oggi in questo vasto Paese, multiculturale e multireligioso, possiamo vedere
comunità cristiane vivaci e un senso religioso che attraversa la vita della
popolazione, è soprattutto grazie alla ricca storia che vi ha preceduto. Penso
alla diffusione del cristianesimo nell’Asia centrale, avvenuta già nei
primissimi secoli, a tanti evangelizzatori e missionari che si sono spesi per
diffondere la luce del Vangelo, fondando comunità, santuari, monasteri e luoghi
di culto. C’è dunque un’eredità cristiana, ecumenica, che va onorata e
custodita, una trasmissione della fede che ha visto protagoniste anche tante
persone semplici, tanti nonni e nonne, padri e madri. Nel cammino spirituale ed
ecclesiale non dobbiamo smarrire il ricordo di quanti ci hanno annunciato la
fede, perché fare memoria ci aiuta a sviluppare lo spirito di contemplazione
per le meraviglie che Dio ha operato nella storia, pur in mezzo alle fatiche
della vita e alle fragilità personali e comunitarie.
Facciamo però attenzione:
non si tratta di guardare indietro con nostalgia, restando bloccati sulle cose
del passato e lasciandoci paralizzare nell’immobilismo: questa è la tentazione
dell’indietrismo. Lo sguardo cristiano, quando si volge per fare memoria, vuole
aprirci allo stupore dinanzi al mistero di Dio, per riempire il nostro
cuore di lode e di gratitudine per quanto il Signore ha compiuto. Un cuore
grato, che trabocca di lode, non nutre rimpianti, accoglie invece l’oggi che
vive come grazia. E vuole mettersi in cammino, andare avanti, comunicare Gesù,
come le donne e i discepoli di Emmaus nel giorno di Pasqua!
È questa memoria viva di
Gesù, che ci riempie di stupore e che attingiamo soprattutto dal Memoriale
eucaristico, la forza d’amore che ci sospinge. È il nostro tesoro. Perciò senza
memoria non c’è stupore. Se perdiamo la memoria viva, allora la fede, le
devozioni e le attività pastorali rischiano di affievolirsi, di essere come dei
fuochi di paglia, che bruciano subito ma si spengono presto. Quando smarriamo
la memoria, si esaurisce la gioia. Viene meno anche la riconoscenza a Dio e ai
fratelli, perché si cade nella tentazione di pensare che tutto dipenda da noi.
Padre Ruslan ci ha ricordato una bella cosa: che essere prete è già molto,
perché nella vita sacerdotale ci si accorge che quanto accade non è opera
nostra, ma è dono di Dio. E suor Clara, parlando della sua vocazione, ha voluto
anzitutto ringraziare coloro che le hanno annunciato il Vangelo. Grazie per
queste testimonianze, che ci invitano a fare memoria grata dell’eredità
ricevuta.
Se guardiamo dentro a
questa eredità, che cosa vediamo? Che la fede non è stata trasmessa di
generazione in generazione come un insieme di cose da capire e da fare, come un
codice fissato una volta per tutte. No, la fede è passata con la vita, con
la testimonianza che ha portato il fuoco del Vangelo nel cuore delle situazioni
per illuminare, purificare e diffondere il calore consolante di Gesù, la gioia
del suo amore che salva, la speranza della sua promessa. Facendo memoria, allora,
impariamo che la fede cresce con la testimonianza. Il resto viene dopo. Questa
è una chiamata per tutti e vorrei ribadirlo a tutti, fedeli laici, vescovi,
sacerdoti, diaconi, consacrati e consacrate che operano in vario modo nella
vita pastorale delle comunità: non stanchiamoci di testimoniare il cuore della
salvezza, la novità di Gesù, la novità che è Gesù! La fede non è una bella
mostra di cose del passato – questo sarebbe un museo –, ma un evento sempre
attuale, l’incontro con Cristo che accade qui e ora nella vita! Perciò non si
comunica solo con la ripetizione delle cose di sempre, ma trasmettendo la
novità del Vangelo. Così la fede rimane viva e ha futuro. Per questo a me piace
dire che la fede va trasmessa “in dialetto”.
Ecco allora la seconda parola, futuro.
La memoria del passato non ci chiude in noi stessi, ma ci apre alla promessa
del Vangelo. Gesù ci ha assicurato che sarà sempre con noi: non si tratta
dunque di una promessa rivolta solo a un futuro lontano, siamo chiamati ad
accogliere oggi il rinnovamento che il Risorto porta avanti nella
vita. Nonostante le nostre debolezze, Egli non si stanca di stare con noi, di
costruire l’avvenire della sua e nostra Chiesa insieme a noi.
Certo, davanti alle tante
sfide della fede – specialmente quelle che riguardano la partecipazione delle
giovani generazioni –, così come dinanzi ai problemi e alle fatiche della vita
e guardando ai propri numeri, nella vastità di un Paese come questo, ci si
potrebbe sentire “piccoli” e inadeguati. Eppure, se adottiamo lo sguardo
speranzoso di Gesù, facciamo una scoperta sorprendente: il Vangelo dice
che essere piccoli, poveri in spirito, è una beatitudine, la prima
beatitudine (cfr Mt 5,3), perché la piccolezza ci consegna umilmente
alla potenza di Dio e ci porta a non fondare l’agire ecclesiale sulle nostre
capacità. E questa è una grazia! Lo ripeto: c’è una grazia nascosta nell’essere
una Chiesa piccola, un piccolo gregge; invece che esibire le nostre forze, i
nostri numeri, le nostre strutture e ogni altra forma di rilevanza umana, ci
lasciamo guidare dal Signore e ci poniamo con umiltà accanto alle persone.
Ricchi di niente, poveri di tutto, camminiamo con semplicità, vicini alle
sorelle e ai fratelli del nostro popolo, portando nelle situazioni della vita
la gioia del Vangelo. Come lievito nella pasta e come il più piccolo dei semi
gettato nella terra (cfr Mt 13,31-33), abitiamo le vicende liete e
tristi della società in cui viviamo, per servirla dal di dentro.
Essere piccoli ci ricorda
che non siamo autosufficienti: che abbiamo bisogno di Dio, ma anche degli
altri, di tutti gli altri: delle sorelle e dei fratelli di altre confessioni,
di chi confessa credo religiosi diversi dal nostro, di tutti gli uomini e le
donne animati da buona volontà. Ci accorgiamo, in spirito di umiltà, che solo
insieme, nel dialogo e nell’accoglienza reciproca, possiamo davvero realizzare
qualcosa di buono per tutti. È il compito peculiare della Chiesa in questo
Paese: non essere un gruppo che si trascina nelle cose di sempre o si chiude
nel suo guscio perché si sente piccolo, ma una comunità aperta al futuro di
Dio, accesa dal fuoco dello Spirito: viva, speranzosa, disponibile alle sue
novità e ai segni dei tempi, animata dalla logica evangelica del seme che porta
frutto nell’amore umile e fecondo. In questo modo, la promessa di vita e di
benedizione, che Dio Padre riversa su di noi per mezzo di Gesù, si fa strada
non solo per noi, ma si realizza anche per gli altri.
E si realizza ogni volta
che viviamo la fraternità tra di noi, che ci facciamo carico dei
poveri e di chi è ferito dalla vita, ogni volta che nei rapporti umani e
sociali testimoniamo la giustizia e la verità, dicendo “no” alla corruzione e
alla falsità. Le comunità cristiane, in particolare il seminario, siano “scuole
di sincerità”: non ambienti rigidi e formali, ma palestre di verità, di
apertura e di condivisione. E nelle nostre comunità – ricordiamoci – siamo
tutti discepoli del Signore: tutti discepoli, tutti essenziali, tutti di pari
dignità. Non solo i Vescovi, i preti e i consacrati, ma ogni battezzato è stato
immerso nella vita di Cristo e in Lui – come ci ricordava san Paolo – è
chiamato per ricevere l’eredità e accogliere la promessa del Vangelo. Va dato
dunque spazio ai laici: vi farà bene, perché le comunità non si irrigidiscano
e non si clericalizzino. Una Chiesa sinodale, in cammino verso il futuro dello
Spirito, è una Chiesa partecipativa, corresponsabile. È una Chiesa capace di
uscire incontro al mondo perché allenata nella comunione. Mi ha colpito che in
tutte le testimonianze ritornava una cosa: non solo padre Ruslan e le suore, ma
anche Kirill, il papà di famiglia ci ha ricordato che nella Chiesa, a contatto
con il Vangelo, impariamo a passare dall’egoismo all’amore incondizionato. È
un’uscita da sé di cui ogni discepolo ha costante bisogno: è il bisogno di
alimentare il dono ricevuto nel Battesimo, che ci spinge ovunque, nei nostri
incontri ecclesiali, nelle famiglie, al lavoro, nella società, a
diventare uomini e donne di comunione e di pace, che seminano il bene ovunque
si trovano. L’apertura, la gioia e la condivisione sono i segni della Chiesa
delle origini: e sono anche i segni della Chiesa del futuro. Sogniamo e, con la
grazia di Dio, edifichiamo una Chiesa più abitata dalla letizia del Risorto,
che respinga paure e lamentele, che non si lasci irrigidire da dogmatismi e
moralismi.
Cari fratelli e sorelle,
chiediamo tutto questo ai grandi testimoni della fede di questo Paese. Vorrei
ricordare in particolare il beato Bukowiński, un sacerdote che spese
l’esistenza per curare gli ammalati, i bisognosi e gli emarginati, pagando
sulla propria pelle la fedeltà al Vangelo con la prigione e i lavori forzati.
Mi hanno detto che, ancora prima della beatificazione, sulla sua tomba c’erano
sempre fiori freschi e una candela accesa. È la conferma che il Popolo di Dio
sa riconoscere dove c’è la santità, dove c’è un pastore innamorato del Vangelo.
Vorrei dirlo in particolare ai Vescovi e ai sacerdoti, e anche ai seminaristi:
questa è la nostra missione: non essere amministratori del sacro o gendarmi
preoccupati di far rispettare le norme religiose, ma pastori vicini alla gente,
icone vive del cuore compassionevole di Cristo. Ricordo anche i martiri
greco-cattolici, il Vescovo Mons. Budka, il sacerdote don Zarizky e Gertrude
Detzel, di cui si è aperto il processo di beatificazione. Come ci ha detto la
signora Miroslava: hanno portato l’amore di Cristo nel mondo. Voi siete la loro
eredità: siate promessa di nuova santità!
Vi sono vicino e vi
incoraggio: vivete con gioia questa eredità e testimoniatela con generosità,
perché quanti incontrate possano percepire che c’è una promessa di speranza
rivolta anche a loro. Vi accompagno con la preghiera; e ora ci affidiamo in
modo particolare al cuore di Maria Santissima, che qui venerate in modo
speciale come Regina della pace. Ho letto di un bel segno materno accaduto in
tempi difficili: mentre tante persone venivano deportate ed erano costrette
alla fame e al freddo, ella, Madre tenera e premurosa, ascoltò la preghiera che
i suoi figli le rivolgevano. In uno degli inverni più rigidi, rapidamente la
neve si sciolse, facendo emergere un lago con molti pesci, che sfamarono tante
persone affamate. Che la Madonna sciolga il freddo dei cuori, infonda nelle
nostre comunità un rinnovato calore fraterno, ci doni speranza ed entusiasmo
nuovi per il Vangelo! Io con affetto vi benedico e vi ringrazio. E vi chiedo,
per favore, di pregare per me.
Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria
Editrice Vaticana
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2022/september/documents/20220915-kazakhstan-clero.html
Den salige Oleksa
Zaryckyj (1912-1963)
Minnedag: 2. aprilDen salige Oleksa Zaryckyj [Zarytsky] (Oleksiy) ble
født i 1912 i landsbyen Bilche i oblast (distriktet) Lviv i Vest-Ukraina. Han
tilhørte den gresk-katolske «unerte» Kirken i landet. I 1931 begynte han på
seminaret i Lviv, og han studerte der til 1934. Han ble presteviet i 1936 av
metropolitt Andreas Septyckyj [Sheptytsky] (Andrij), som ledet den
ukrainsk-katolske Kirke fra 1901 til sin død i 1944.
Han gjorde tjeneste i
landsbyen Strutyna nær Zolochiv. I 1948 ble han fengslet og dømt til ti års
fengsel i arbeidsleirene i Sibir og Kasakhstan fordi han nektet å konvertere
til den ortodokse kirke, og han ble deportert til Karaganda. Han ble løslatt
før tiden i 1957 og vendte tilbake til Vest-Ukraina flere ganger, men vendte
tilbake til øst igjen. Blant de umenneskelige forholdene i leiren gjorde han
tjeneste ikke bare for ukrainere, men også for polakker, tyskere, russere –
greske og romerske katolikker. Han besøkte metropolitt Josef Slipyj i eksil.
Han ble utnevnt til
apostolisk administrator for Kasakhstan og Sibir, men kort etter ble han
arrestert igjen og dømt en gang til, denne gang til to år for «løsgjengeri».
Han døde som martyr for sin tros skyld den 30. oktober 1963 i en arbeidsleir i
landsbyen Dolynka i Karaganda. Hans jordiske rester fikk en ny begravelse i
1990 i landsbyen Riasna-Ruska nær Lviv.
Den 24. april 2001 ble
dekretet som anerkjente hans og andre ukraineres martyrium (gruppen den
salige Nikolas
Carneckyj og hans 24 ledsagere) promulgert i Vatikanet av
Helligkåringskongregasjonen i nærvær av pave Johannes Paul II (1978-2005).
Dermed fikk de tittelen Venerabilis, «Ærverdige», og veien til saligkåring
var åpnet. Gruppen består av åtte biskoper, seks sekularprester, syv ordensprester,
tre ordenssøstre og en legmann.
De ble saligkåret den 27.
juni 2001 av pave Johannes Paul II under hans besøk i Ukraina. Deres minnedag
er 2. april, Nikolas Carneckyjs dødsdag. Samtidig ble to andre gresk-katolske
ukrainere, en rutensk biskop og to latinske katolikker også saligkåret.
Kilder: Patron
Saints SQPN, papalvisit.org.ua, vatican.va, EWTN/OR - Kompilasjon og
oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Sist oppdatert: 2005-07-04 23:45
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/ozarycky
(13 - 15 SEPTEMBER 2022)
ВЫСТУПЛЕНИЕ СВЯТЕЙШЕГО ОТЦА
Встреча с епископами, священниками,
дьяконами,
монашествующими, семинаристами и теми, кто
занимается пастырской деятельностью
Кафедральный Собор в Нур-Султане,
15 сентября 2022
Дорогие братья Епископы, священники
и дьяконы, дорогие монашествующие, семинаристы и те, кто занимается пастырской деятельностью,
здравствуйте!
Я счастлив быть здесь среди
вас, приветствовать Конференцию Епископов Центральной Азии и встретиться с Церковью,
состоящей их множества лиц, историй и различных традиций, объединенных одной верой
во Христа Иисуса. Монсеньор Мумбьела Сьерра, которому я очень благодарен за слова
приветствия, сказал: «Большинство из нас иностранцы». Это верно, потому что вы из
разных мест и стран, но красота Церкви состоит в том, что мы представляем собой
одну семью, в которой нет иностранцев. Повторяю: никто в Церкви не является иностранцем,
мы все один святой Народ Божий, обогащённый множеством племён! Сила нашего священнического
и святого народа – именно в том, что различие становится богатством благодаря делению
тем, что у нас есть и кем мы являемся. Наша мизерность преумножается, когда мы ею
делимся.
Отрывок из Слова Божия, который
мы только что слушали, утверждает именно это: тайна Бога – по словам святого Павла
– открылась всем народам. Не только избранному народу или религиозной элите, но
всем. Каждый человек может приступить к Богу, потому что, как объясняет Апостол, и
язычники — сонаследники и члены того же тела и сопричастники обетования во Христе
Иисусе через Евангелие. (см. Еф 3,6).
Мне хотелось бы обратить внимание
на два слова, которые употребляет Павел: наследие и обетование. С одной стороны,
Церковь получает в наследство историю, она дочь - первого провозглашения Евангелия,
события, что ей предшествует, других апостолов и евангелизаторов, что учредили ее
на живом слове Иисуса; с другой стороны, она еще и община тех, кто видел как в Иисусе
исполнилось обетование Бога, и которые, будучи сынами воскресения, живут в надежде
на будущее свершение. Действительно, обещанная слава обращена к нам, она оживляет
ожиданием наш путь. Наследие и обетование: наследие прошлого – наша память,
обетование Евангелия – будущее Бога, Который идет к нам навстречу. На этом
мне хотелось бы задержаться подольше: Церковь, которая совершает путь в истории
между памятью и будущим.
В первую очередь, память.
Если сегодня в этой большой стране, мультикультурной и многоконфессиональной, мы
видим действующие христианские общины, равно как то, что жизнь людей наполнена религиозным
смыслом: то всё это существует, в первую очередь, благодаря богатой истории, которая
вам предшествовала. Думаю о распространении христианства в центральной Азии, происходившем
уже в первые века его истории, о множестве евангелизаторов и миссионеров, пожертвовавших
себя ради распространения света Евангелия, основавших общины, святилища, монастыри
и места культа. Поэтому христианское, экуменическое наследие здесь присутствует,
его следует почитать и сохранять. Вера передается, и передавалась она также многими
простыми людьми, бабушками и дедушками, отцами и матерями. Совершая наш духовный
и церковный путь, мы не должны забывать о тех, кто провозглашал нам веру, потому
что память помогает нам развивать дух созерцательности, с помощью которого мы видим
чудеса, совершенные Богом в истории, даже среди жизненных невзгод, несмотря на личные
и общинные недостатки.
Однако стоит быть внимательными:
это отнюдь не означает смотреть назад с ностальгией, замкнувшись в прошлом, лишив
себя свободы действия из-за косности – это искушение «индьетризма» (отставания).
Взгляд христианина, когда обращается к воспоминаниям, хочет открыть нас для удивления
перед тайной Бога, чтобы сердце наполнилось хвалением и благодарностью за дела,
что совершил Господь. Благодарное сердце, преисполненное хвалы, не сожалеет, но
принимает сегодняшний день как благодать. Оно желает отправиться в путь, идти вперед,
провозглашать Христа, подобно женщинам и ученикам в Эммаусе в день Пасхи!
Это и есть живая память Иисуса,
которая наполняет нас изумлением, и которую мы черпаем, в первую очередь, из евхаристического
Воспоминания, это сила любви, которая движет нами. Это наше сокровище. Таким образом
без памяти нет изумления. Если мы утратим живую память, то потеряем и веру, благочестивые
практики, пастырская деятельность могут ослабнуть, уподобятся соломе, которая моментально
вспыхивает и быстро гаснет. Если мы утратим память, угаснет и наша радость. Не будет
уже такой сильной благодарности Богу и братьям, ибо мы впадем в искушение – думать,
что все зависит от нас. Отец Руслан сделал прекрасное напоминание нам: быть священником
– это уже много, потому что в священнической жизни замечаешь, что все что происходит
не является нашей заслугой, а даром Бога. А сестра Клара, когда рассказывала о своем
призвании, хотела, прежде всего, поблагодарить тех, кто ей провозгласил Евангелие.
Благодарю вас за эти свидетельства, которые призывают нас к тому, чтобы мы с благодарностью
помнили о полученном нами наследии.
Что мы увидим, если заглянем
внутрь этого наследия? Вера не передавалась из поколения в поколение как совокупность
истин, которые нужно понять и исполнять, как некий свод правил, определенных один
раз для всех. Нет, вера передавалась посредством жизни, в свидетельстве, которое
зажгло пламя Евангелия в самом сердце истории, освещая и очищая ее, распространяя
вокруг себя умиротворяющее тепло Иисуса, радость Его спасающей любви, надежду Его
обетования. Когда мы храним память, узнаем, что вера умножается свидетельством.
Остальное приходит потом. Это призыв ко всем, настоятельно повторяю – ко всем: верующим
мирянам, епископам, священникам, дьяконам, монашествующим, которые каждый своим
способом исполняет пастырское служение в общине. Неустанно свидетельствуйте о сердце
спасения, новизне Иисуса, новизне, которая и есть Иисус! Вера – это не красивая
выставка того, что было в прошлом - это был бы музей -, но всегда актуальное
событие, встреча со Христом, которая происходит здесь и сейчас в нашей жизни! Она
не передается только повторением одного и того же, но свидетельствует о новизне
Евангелия. Так вера сохраняется живой и обретает будущее.Вот почему я люблю говорить,
что вера должна передаваться «на диалекте».
Второе слово – будущее.
Память о прошлом не запирает нас в самих себе, но открывает нас обетованию Евангелия.
Иисус обещал нам, что никогда нас не оставит: это не обещание, которое относится
лишь к далекому будущему, мы должны сегодня согласиться, чтобы Воскресший
обновил нашу жизнь. Несмотря на наши недостатки, Он неустанно пребывает с нами,
строит будущее Своей и нашей Церкви вместе с нами.
Конечно, перед лицом множества
трудностей в вере – особенно тех, что касаются участия молодых поколений – равно
как перед лицом жизненных проблем и трудностей, и видя, как нас немного в такой
огромной стране, можно ощущать себя «незначительным» и малоспособным. Но если мы
посмотрим с надеждой на Иисуса, нам откроется поразительная тайна: Евангелие утверждает,
что быть малым, нищим духом, — это блаженство, первостепенное блаженство
(см. Мф 5,3): потому что наша незначительность, смиренно отдаетнас Божьей всемогущести,
благодаря чему мы понимаем, что нельзя основывать деятельность в Церкви только на
наших способностях. И это благодать! Повторяю: в маленькой Церкви, малом стаде кроется
благодать: вместо того, чтобы хвастаться своими способностями, числом, структурами
и любой другой формой человеческой значимости, лучше позволить, чтобы нами руководил
Господь и смиренно посвятить себя служению людям. Богаты ни в чем и бедные во всем,
давайте идти вперёд с простотой, рядом с сестрами и братьями своего народа, наполняя
жизненные ситуации радостью Евангелия. Подобно закваске в тесте и самому малому
зерну, брошенному в землю (см. Мф 13, 31-33), мы пребываем в радостях и горестях
общества, в котором живем, чтобы служить ему.
Именно наша незначительность
напоминает нам, что мы не самодостаточны: мы нуждаемся в Боге, равно как
и в других, во многих других. Мы нуждаемся в сестрах и братьях из других конфессий,
которые исповедуют веру, отличную от нашей, в каждом человеке, в котором живет добрая
воля. Мы осознаем, в духе смирения, что только сообща, в диалоге и взаимном приятии,
мы можем по-настоящему сделать что-то хорошее для всех. Это особая задача Церкви
в этой стране – быть не группой, которая держится за одно и то же, и запирается
в своем панцире только потому, что ощущает себя незначительной, но общиной, открытой
будущему Бога, пылающей огнем Святого Духа: Живой, полной надежды, открытой новизне
и знакам времени, воодушевляемой евангельской логикой семени, что приносит плод
в смиренной и плодотворной любви. Так, обетование жизни и благословения, которое
Бог Отец излил на нас через Христа, исполнится не только для нас, но и для других.
Оно исполняется всякий раз,
когда мы живем как братья между собой, когда заботимся о бедных и тех,
кому не повезло в жизни, всякий раз, когда свидетельствуем о справедливости и истине
в человеческих и общественных отношениях, протестуя против коррупции и фальши. Христианские
общины, в частности семинария, должны быть «школой искренности». Не местом, где
царит скованность и формализм, но таким местом, в котором учатся истине, открытости
и умению делиться. В своих общинах, - мы не должны забывать об этом - мы все ученики
Господа. Все ученики, важные и с равным достоинством. Не только Епископы, священники
и монашествующие, но каждый крещенный был погружен в жизнь Христа и в Нем – как
утверждал святой Павел – призван получить наследие и принять обетование Евангелия.
Необходимо определить место мирянам: только так можно избежать клерикализации и
закоснелости в общине. Синодальная Церковь, идущая к будущему Святого Духа – является
такой Церковью, где пребывает совместная ответственность и всеобщее участие. Такая
Церковь способна идти навстречу миру, потому что умеет общаться. Меня тронуло, что
во всех свидетельствах звучало одно и то же: не только отец Руслан и сестры, но
и Кирилл, отец семейства, вспомнили, что в Церкви, когда мы соприкасаемся с Евангелием,
учимся переходить от эгоизма к безусловной любви. Избавиться от эгоизма – в этом
нуждается каждый ученик. Каждый нуждается в том, чтобы совершенствовать дар, полученный
в Крещении, благодаря которому везде, где бы мы не находились – на церковных встречах,
в семье, на работе, в обществе – мы становимся людьми общения и мира,
которые повсюду сеют добро. Открытость, радость, деление – знаки ранней Церкви,
равно как и Церкви будущего. Давайте будем мечтать, но и с благодатью Божией, созидать
Церковь, в которой живет радость Воскресшего, которая изгоняет страх и роптание,
и не дает нам закоснеть в догматизме и морализме.
Дорогие братья и сестры, давайте
будем просить обо всем этом у великих свидетелей веры этой страны. Мне хотелось
бы особенно вспомнить о блаженном Буковинским, священнике, который всю свою жизнь
посвятил служению больным, нуждающимся и отверженным, заплативший за преданность
Евангелию тюремным заключением и принудительными работами. Мне говорили, что еще
до его беатификации, на его могиле всегда были свежие цветы и зажженная свеча. Это
свидетельствует, что Народ Божий хорошо распознает святость, пастыря, влюбленного
в Евангелие. Мне хотелось бы сказать это особенно Епископам и священникам, а также
семинаристам – это и есть наша миссия: не быть распорядителями священного или
жандармами, что заботятся лишь о том, чтобы соблюдались религиозные нормы, а пастырями,
близкими людям, живыми образами сострадающего сердца Христа. Следует вспомнить также
и мучеников греко-католической Церкви: Епископа Будку, священника Зарицкого, а также
Гертруду Детцель, процесс беатификации которой уже начался. Как сказала госпожа
Мирослава: они несли любовь Христа в мир. Вы их наследие: будьте обетованием
новой святости!
Я вместе с вами и
призываю вас: воплощайте с радостью в жизни это наследие и свидетельствуйте о
нем с великодушием, чтобы те, кого вы встретите поняли, что это обетование
надежды обращено и к ним. Я с вами в молитве. А теперь особенным образом вверим
себя сердцу Пресвятой Марии, которую вы здесь почитаете как Царицу мира. Я
прочитал, что в тяжелые времена было одно знамение. Это было во время
депортаций, когда многие страдали от голода и холода: Она, милостивая и
заботливая Мать, услышала молитвы, обращенные к ней ее детьми. Однажды в одну
из суровых зим, снег вдруг растаял, и образовалось озеро, кишевшее рыбой,
благодаря чему многие люди смогли спастись от голода. Пусть Богоматерь растопит
холод сердец, наполнит наши общины обновленным братским теплом, пошлет нам
новую надежду и энтузиазм на благо Евангелия! А я сердечно благословляю вас и
благодарю. И прошу вас, пожалуйста, молитесь обо мне.
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/ru/speeches/2022/september/documents/20220915-kazakhstan-clero.html
