Jill Biden

When she visited Ukraine this weekend, she went to Uzhorod. Uzhorod is the nearest big city to my family.

Some background:

When my grandparents came out, it was called Ungvar, capital of Ung Region. When under Soviet control, it was Uzhgorod. The Ukrainians changed it back to the historical place name of Uzhorod. If you notice, Russians tend to go for hard consonants whereas Ukrainians will soften them. "gorod" becomes "horod". It means "city on the Uzh River".

Uzhorod is the site where the Eastern Catholic Churches came back into union with the Pope after the Great Schism of 1054. That year was when the Latin Rite and Eastern Rites became estranged due to the intransigence of Michael Cerularius and Leo IX's ego. There were political reasons (the breakup of the Roman Empire into East and West, the use of Latin vs. Greek for the Mass, etc.) but mostly, it was a pissing match between two ungodly men determined to ensure that each was recognized as head of the church. There were some religious differences that had crept up, mostly regarding the Filioque (where the words "and the Son" were inserted into the Nicene Creed without the concurrence of an ecumenical council) but that could have been worked out if these two knuckleheads could have put aside their egos. So it goes - the church serves God but is run by humans, with all the faults that humans carry.

In 1646, several Eastern churches came back into union with the Pope. They were granted sui juris status, meaning they could run their own affairs, choose their own bishops, keep their Greek Rite for the Mass. In return, they recognized the Pope as the head of the Catholic Church. These Catholics are called Byzantine Rite Catholics (formerly, Greek Catholics to distinguish them from Greek Orthodox. The Mass is the same between the two Greek Rites, though.) The Treaty of Ungvar was the vehicle for the reunification. If you read about Ukrainian Catholics, that is a national Byzantine Catholic Church. There are many national Byzantine Catholic Churches. My family's is the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church, which is the church for the Ruthenes, a Slavic people living in the northern Carparthian Mountains.

Uzhorod's claim to fame these days, besides being very pretty with gorgeous churches, is the reconstruction and dedication of the Greek Catholic Seminary dedicated to Blessed Theodore Romzha, a Greek Catholic bishop assassinated by Beria's NKVD (forerunner to the KGB). The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church was relentlessly persecuted and suppressed, with Mass being held out in the woods because the Soviets had outlawed our churches. When John Paul II died, a Ruthenian Greek Catholic bishop was on the dais to concelebrate the funeral Mass. It was the first time a Greek Catholic bishop from the region had been seen in public in decades and it was due to John Paul II's support for persecuted Catholics around the world but especially in the former Soviet sphere of influence. By the way, the original seminary was built in the early 1700s by Jesuits, so those industrious Latins wasted little time after the Treaty signing.

If you want a treat, check out the Uzhorod Seminary doing some singing on YouTube, such as the following clip. Singing is EXTREMELY important to Greek Catholics and while we cannot commit the sin of pride by exalting our singing tradition, we do allow ourselves a small smile of satisfaction when we hear stuff like this, not only for the message but for the beauty of the voices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eNBHE-A1wc