Paul Goodman on an Easter home-coming

Half a century of Ukrainian exile ends
THE cramming of modern office equipment — ranging from pens and paper-clips to computers And photocopying machines — into six huge trucks will mark the return of Ukrainian Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky to his homeland after an absence of more than 50 years.
The trucks will carry 50,000 copies of a Ukrainian prayer book — each is more than 1,000 pages long, and contains prayers, liturgical texts, and a catechism — as well as the office supplies. Three million souvenir holy cards with a reproduction of an icon on one side and the date of the cardinal's return on the other will also be transported.
His . return marks the full emergence of the Ukrainian church from its former underground existence — a process that has been gathering pace during the past two years. Ukrainian Catholics spread throughout the world have been using the vernacular in the liturgy, instead of church Slavonic, for over 20 years; in the Ukraine itself, such changes have only come into effect during the last two.
The few prayer books that still remain in the region are yellow with age and ragged with use, since they were printed during the 1930s and 1940s. At most liturgies, the people have to make the necessary responses from memory due to the shortage of books, claimed Mgr Dacko, Cardinal Lubachivsky's secretary. Religious and theological books are one of the greatest needs of the church in the Ukraine, he added.
The cardinal's first public liturgy will be held on March 31 — Palm Sunday on the Julian calendar followed by eastern Christians. On Holy Thursday, he will wash the feet of 12 priests who were imprisoned for their faith.
The cardinal will arrive in Lvov on a plane chartered from Aeroflot, accompanied by over three dozen journalists from all over the world — including more than 20 Moscow-based correspondents of western news agencies. On arrival, he will be greeted by a parade from the airport to St George's cathedral.
Ukrainian Catholics were hoping that hundreds of their relations in North America would join the festivities. However, the Gulf war dealt preparations for the visit a severe blow. Attempts to organise travel packages fell flat as overseas bookings by Americans slumped, and other arrangements were jeopardised by the 60 per cent increase in Aeroflot's prices — caused by soaring fuel costs.
However, Ukrainians from Germany, Poland. Yugoslavia and Australia will be represented at the celebrations. In addition, the cardinal's office has hired a crew to make two documentaries on the Ukrainian church — one about its liquidation in 1946 when it was forcibly annexed by Stalin to the Orthodox, and the other on its current condition.
This is generally recognised as being inchoate. Benefactors in the west have donated money and materials to help reestablish diocesan offices, which have not existed since 1946. Mgr Dacko has described the offices in the diocesan sees of Lvov, lvano-Frankovsk and Uzghorod as being "very primitive".
Consequently, the cardinal is bringing a chancery — as well as personal items and liturgical vestments — with him to the Ukraine.
The costs of printing some of the literature which the cardinal will be carrying with him to the Ukraine will be borne by Aid to the Church in Need.
The celebrations will strike a telling contrast with last summer's events, when Cardinal Lubachivsky marked his birthday with a special mass at the cathedral of St Sophia in Rome. Bishops from the Ukraine and from Ukrainian communities abroad attended the liturgy.
The mass was followed by a one-day conference at the Vatican during which the Ukrainian bishops discussed the state of their church with the Pope. Observers noted that the Vatican, which was in the process of establishing a new relationship with President Gorbachev and the Russian Orthodox church, was placed in a difficult position by the cardinal's presence in Rome.
Ukrainian bishops have long argued that church properties skied by the Orthodox during the long suppression of the Ukrainian church should be repossessed, and considerable pressure was placed on the Pope by the meeting.
For him to give to the cardinal prominent public support, it was argued, would jeopordise the understanding so patiently built up between the Vatican and the Soviet Union. On the other hand, it was fell that the Pope would be discredited among the Rome-affiliated Ukrainians if he failed enthusiastically to back their cause.
Relations between the Soviet establishment and Ukrainian patriots are still tense. The trial of Stepan Khmara — a former prisoner of conscience, and now a People's Deputy to the Ukrainian Parliament — who was arrested after a provocative street incident involving a KGB official is forthcoming.
The incident, which was followed by the lifting of Mr Khmara's parliamentary immunity, has caused much local controversy. Although the chief procurator of the Ukraine has confirmed that the trial will be open to observers, Amnesty International are concerned about the case, and have noted that a date for the trial is yet to be set.
They have expressed concern "that the real reason for the charge against Stepan Khmara may be his outspoken criticism of the Communist party, and is therefore seeking other information from the Soviet authorities on the background to his arrest and the charge against him."