Opposition to de-Latinization The SSJK rejects the
de-Latinization reforms currently being strongly enforced within the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is in
full communion with
Rome. These reforms began with the 1930s corrections of the liturgical books by Metropolitan
Andrey Sheptytsky. According to his biographer
Cyril Korolevsky, however, Metropolitan Andrey opposed the use of force against liturgical Latinizers. He expressed fear that any attempt to do so would lead to a Greek Catholic equivalent of the
1666 Schism in the
Russian Orthodox Church. The de-Latinisation of the UGCC gained further momentum with the 1964 decree
Orientalium Ecclesiarum of the
Second Vatican Council) and several subsequent documents. This resulted in the Latinisations being discarded within the
Ukrainian diaspora. The Soviet occupation of Western Ukraine had meanwhile forced Byzantine Catholics into a clandestine existence and the Latinizations continued to be used in the underground. After the prescription against the UGCC was lifted in 1989, numerous UGCC priests and hierarchs arrive from the diaspora and attempted to enforce liturgical conformity. In his memoir
Persecuted Tradition,
Basil Kovpak has accused the UGCC hierarchy of using intense psychological pressure against priests who are reluctant or unwilling to de-Latinize. He alleges that numerous laity, who have been attached to the Latinizations since the days of the underground, would prefer to stay home on Sunday rather than attend a de-Latinized liturgy. The SSJK for instance opposes the removal of the
Stations of the Cross, the
rosary, and the
monstrance from the liturgy and parishes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. In rejecting these reforms, they also reject the right of the Church authorities to make these reforms; thus who controls the formate of liturgy becomes an important point of debate. Critics of the SSJK point out that their liturgical practice favours severely abbreviated services and imported
Roman Rite devotions over the traditional and authentic practices and ancient devotions of Eastern Tradition and particularly the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Proponents counter that these "Latin" symbols and rituals, borrowed from the
Latin liturgical practices of their
Latin Catholic Polish neighbours, have long been practised by Ukrainian Greek Catholics, in some cases for centuries, and that to suppress them is to deprive the Ukrainian Catholic faithful of a part of their own sacred heritage. The central point in the dispute is over what constitutes 'organic development'. The
Holy See, however, has argued since before the Second Vatican Council that
Latinization was not an organic development. Frequently cited examples of this are
Pope Leo XIII's 1894
encyclical Orientalium dignitas and
Saint Pius X's instructions that the priests of the
Russian Catholic Church should offer the liturgy "no more, no less, and no different" (nec plus, nec minus, nec aliter) than the Orthodox and Old Ritualist clergy.
Church Slavonic . The society declares that one of its main goals is conversion of
Russia and
Ukraine to unity with the
Catholic Church. The SSJK also opposes the abandonment of
Church Slavonic, the traditional
liturgical language of the Slavic Churches (both Orthodox and Greek-Catholic) in favour of the modern
Ukrainian in the Liturgy of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The society holds that Church Slavonic is essential to stress necessary Catholic unity among all
Slavic peoples, and to avoid
nationalism which has for a long time divided Slavic Christians. However, critics claim that the essence of Eastern liturgical practice is to pray in a language which is understood by the people, and that Church Slavonic has ceased to be such a language, becoming a pale imitation of the Western practice of using Latin to promote unity. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has a large presence in many non-Slavic countries, with numerous eparchies and parishes in the diaspora, exacerbating the problem of parishioners not understanding what is being celebrated as well as raising issues of assimilation.
Ecumenism The Society of Saint Josaphat condemns
ecumenism with the
Orthodox currently practised by both the
Holy See and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Instead the society promotes Catholic
missionary activities among the Orthodox, who are not in communion with the
Holy See. In
Persecuted Tradition, Basil Kovpak cites numerous examples of the UGCC turning away Orthodox clergy and laity who wish to convert. In many cases, he alleges, this is because the converts are not ethnically Ukrainian.
Attempted excommunication In 2003, Cardinal
Lubomyr Husar excommunicated SSJK superior Kovpak from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Kovpak appealed this punishment at the
Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota in
Vatican City and the excommunication was declared null and void by reason of a lack of canonical form. ==Ordinations in 2006==