"Big Blesz," holy man of the east

Above, top to bottom: Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, or "Blesziniscie," of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and me at the banquet in Kyiv on Saturday, October 11th, 2008; Cardinal Husar reacts to a question from an interviewer after an interview for UCU on Sunday, October 12th; Husar and the Archbishop of Kyiv, center, and an archbishop from Rome at the Hyatt Kyiv Hotel on October 11th; and Blesziniscie in his home outside of Kyiv after the interview on October 12th, 2008.
His black cassock sweeping the floor, Blesziniscie(bleh-zih-nee-shee), "Your Beatitude," silences an entire room of Ukrainians by lifting his hand in blessing, then rumbles a greeting beneath a snowy white beard. An icon of the Virgin Mary swings from his neck by golden chain, like a pendulum pitching back and forth with each plodding step. He is already tired and weary at 6 pm, and only lasts for a couple of hours till his speech. He doesn't disappoint.

He is a warm man, and even though I reiterate what an honor it is to meet him, the leader of an entire faith, he insists that the pleasure is all his. Born in Lviv, Husar fled with his family to Austria in 1944, and eventually settled in the United States where he attended St. Basil College Seminary in Connecticut. He later taught there, and eventually returned to Ukraine where he now resides. 

I was impressed by his humility and sincerity as many church hierarchs, I hate to say, emanate a political savviness and elitist air that is less than charming. Although a minority church, the majority of western Ukraine is Ukrainian Catholic, and it's the only eastern church that is in communion with Rome. I feel lucky to have been in the same room with him, and even luckier to have met him in person.