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Ukrainians Learn Marriage Encounter

Catherine McCabe

(Reprinted with permission from The Daily Chronicle, DeKalb/Sycamore, Illinois)
Editor's note: This is a two-part series about Sophia & Ivan Liskevych, a Ukrainian couple who were involved in the underground church in their hometown of Lviw in Ukraine.

(Excerpted from Summer 1994 Matrimony magazine)

PART ONE – THEY KEPT THEIR CHURCH ALIVE

Myron & Lesia Kuropas of DeKalb are hosting a Ukrainian couple who are in the United States learning to lead Marriage Encounter Weekends so they can bring this international program to Ukraine.

The lives of lvan & Sophia Liskevych sound like a Russian history lesson. Their history includes, personally or within their families, exile to Siberia, government arrest and the outlawing of their religion by the Russian government.

Ukrainian Catholics, Ivan and Sophia participated in the 'underground' church in Ukraine, opening their home to 2 a.m. visits from priests and hosting illegal liturgies.

In 1946, the Ukrainian Catholic Church was outlawed by the Soviet government, according to Kuropas who translated for the Liskevychs.

''The Archbishops, bishops and many priests were exiled to Siberia and the government forcibly brought together some Ukrainian Catholic priests who were terrorized into making the declaration that the Ukrainian Catholic Church is dissolved and will join the Roman Orthodox Church which was under the control of the Soviet government," explained Kuropas.

One bishop and a number of priests were able to go underground where they developed a network of clergy and laity who maintained the Church. The priests worked as laborers during the day and ministered at night, said Kuropas.

Sophia and Ivan said word would go around that a priest would be on the number six bus Tuesday night. The priest stood in the back of the bus, holding the hand strap and hearing confessions from Ukrainian Catholics.

Sophia and Ivan and other members of the underground church knew each other only by first name. "The priest in particular was at great risk," said the couple, "At that point in Ukrainian history, anyone suspected of participating in anti-government activities was imprisoned, beaten or exiled," explained the Liskevychs.

Sophia and Ivan were involved with one priest who was caught ministering. He was beaten and tied to the back of a pickup truck by his feet and dragged through the streets of the village as an example.

The less the members of the underground church knew about each other, the less risk was involved.

During their stay in DeKalb, the Liskevychs and the Kuropas' visited the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago where a priest from Ukraine was also visiting. When announced by their proper name, the priest said he did not know the couple. Upon seeing them, however, the priest greeted them, apologizing for not recognizing them.

The priest, Fr. Sebastian, had been the couple's spiritual advisor toward the end of the outlawed period but had never known their last name.

Ivan and Sophia married in 1977 in the Roman Catholic Church which functioned at that time under the surveillance of the Russian government. The Ukrainian National Church, which differs from the Roman Catholic sect, was still outlawed with the intent of suppressing Ukrainian national feeling, according to Kuropas.

After their marriage, the Liskevychs opened their home to the underground Ukrainian Catholic Church. Liturgies moved from house to house and village to village. Information about activities was kept under wraps to protect the participants. Involvement in the underground church was not as dangerous for the laity as for the clergy.

Sophia and Ivan explained that the priests felt they carried a sacred responsibility to minister, regardless of the risks.

"They (the priests) believed the Lord would protect them and they would not say no (when asked to perform cleric functions)," explained the couple.

The KGB (the Soviet secret police and intelligence agency, tried to infiltrate the underground church, posing as worshippers. The members of the secret church developed their own methods of concealment.

The Liskevychs know an 80-year-old priest who “took great pleasure" in baking the unleavened bread used for communion. According to Sophia, this priest believed the KGB were "human beings also. The Lord made them."

Sophia shared this story about the baker priest: '' His home was in the middle of town and priests came from all over to pick up the communion bread. To avoid suspicion the visitors came in various guises, such as building or water inspectors."

PART TWO - CHURCH SPIRIT STRENGTH LIVED

Editors note: This is the second in a two-part series about Sophia & Ivan Liskevych who kept alive the Ukrainian Catholic Church. They are in DeKalb to learn to teach Marriage Encounter Weekends. They will take their knowledge home to Ukraine.

Sophia and Ivan Liskevych were involved in the underground Ukrainian Catholic Church. For 14 years, clergy and members of the underground church had liturgies in the Liskevychs' home. They are staying with Myron and Lesia Kuropas of DeKalb.

Kuropas translated a recent interview with The Daily Chronicle. The spirit of the Ukrainian Catholic Church remained strong and many young people joined the underground church during the outlawed period. For them, affiliation with the church carried with it the danger of ruining academic careers. If a student was thought to be a believer, they would be denied entrance into the university.

Many believers suffered at the hands of the KGB for their faith and other "crimes against the government." Sophia's grandfather was twice tried, imprisoned and sentenced to 2l years exile in Siberia. His crime: owning land.

The Soviet government believed that owning land was "exploitation of the masses," explained Kuropas.

The grandfather was tried in a secret trial, and Sophia and other relatives did not know where he was imprisoned and were not allowed to attend the trial.

Ivan and his family were also sent to Siberia. Their crime: being Ukrainian. They were given 12 hours to pack, were taken to the train station and were on route to their exile for one month. Ivan returned to Ukraine in 1969 and then brought his mother back.

Although often frightened, Sophia and Ivan said they never doubted their father and never considered renouncing Ukrainian Catholicism. When their church was declared illegal, some Ukrainian Catholics went into the underground, others joined the legal Russian Orthodox Church because "they loved God and wanted to worship him," explained Sophia. These faithful did not renounce Ukrainian Catholicism.

A small percentage of people did renounce Ukrainian Catholicism and adhered to the tenets of the Russian church.

The physical churches were either demolished, used as stables or warehouses or converted to museums of atheism, social clubs, or palaces of culture.

In 1991, the Ukrainian Catholic Church moved out of the underground but still is not legally recognized or protected.

In their hometown of Lviw, the Liskevych's church had been taken over by the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Catholics were granted back their church by order of the city council after what Sophia described as a ''difficult, very painful time," which included demonstrations and "unfortunate incidents."

Through tears, Sophia described the first open Ukrainian Catholic service she attended. "I felt great joy and realized that Jesus Christ made only one church for all people," said Sophia.

Today, the Ukrainian Catholic Church is flourishing in Ukraine. According to the Liskevychs, seminaries, filled to capacity, have waiting lists. Plans are being developed for more seminaries.

''People are coming to more of an understanding of the secret church," Sophia said.

In July, Myron and Lesia Kuropas will join Sophia and Ivan Liskevych in Ukraine to implement the first phase of the Marriage Encounter program.

Sophia and Ivan said even one month ago they could not have imagined they would be sitting in a dining room in DeKalb translating Marriage Encounter documents to bring the program to their country.

Sophia never doubted the Ukrainian Catholic Church would resurrect. "I always had the dream. I thought it might be 300 or 100 or 50 years but not in my lifetime," Sophia said.

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