No collaboration

DESMOND O'Grady, in the closing paragraphs of his article "Ukraine Catholics' glimmer of hope" (Catholic Herald November 13), focuses on the view of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Ukranian Catholics.
For the benefit of Russian Orthodox readers who claim that the Union of Brest (whence the Ukranian Church came into unity with Rome) was "initiated under duress" and the "Rome stole part of thier church", I should wish to point out that the Ukranian Catholic Church never was, or, doubtlessly ever will be, a part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Indeed, historically, the Russian Tsars and successive Soviet governments collaborated with the Russian Orthodox Church in an attempt to ruthlessly crush the Ukrainian Catholic Church by political, military and ecclesiastical means.
Furthermore, in 1946 the Russian Orthodox Church did not "take over" the Ukranian Catholic Church "because of its alleged wartimke collaboration with German invaders". Allow me to quote an extract from a letter of metropolitan Andrey Sheptycky, the Head of the Ukranian Catholic Church at that time, written to the Holy Father at the end of August, 1952.
I can only presume that the allegation of "collaboration" has been invented in order to cover-up the true extent of collaboration between the Russian Orthodox Church and Stalin in their united attempt to suffocate the Ukranian Catholic Church once and for all after the end of World War II.
F Kurlack Notting Hill Gate, London W2.