Idaho's Roman Catholic bishop is urging Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to grant full legal status to the Ukrainian Catholic Church in his country.
When the Ukrainian Catholic Church was declared illegal in the Soviet Union in 1946, its members were ordered to join the Russian Orthodox Church, viewed by Ukrainian Catholics as a collaborator with the state. Many Ukrainian Catholics have taken to participating in an underground church."It is most commendable that such strides toward freedom for the citizens of the Soviet Union have been made under your leadership," said Tod Brown, bishop of the Boise Diocese, in a letter to Gorbachev.
"However, there is one noticeable concern I wish to bring to your attention personally," he said. "Our brothers and sisters of the Ukrainian Catholic Church . . . do not have the religious freedom, contrary to the provision of the Soviet Constitution.
"The Ukrainian Catholic Church has been outlawed since 1946, and all of its property has been either destroyed or confiscated. This denial of the basic human right of freedom of conscience and religion continues to this very moment in the Soviet Union, not withstanding your reforms."
Bishop Brown noted Ukrainian Catholic priests are arrested and detained, services are disrupted and worshipers are persecuted. Gorbachev is scheduled to meet Nov. 29 with Pope John Paul II in Rome. Brown's letter was one of many by American Catholic bishops.