No, it will never end. The Rusyns of Zakarpattia are in a difficult situation. The Ukrainians refuse to consider them a separate ethnic group, and they are under pressure to give up their language, church and culture and become assimilated into the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They fear the Russians even more.
The Rusyns in Poland were deported from their native area to lands gained from Germany after WWII, and they have disappeared as a separate ethnic group. The Rusyns is Slovakia and Hungary are treated much better, and the people of Zakarpattia would like to return to either of those states, but Ukraine will never allow that. Without any military organization or tradition, they are pretty much at the mercy of their more aggressive and numerous neighbors, as they have been for the past 800 years. Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 1:48 PM, Alan C <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for that potted history, Dan. I really enjoyed reading it & I can > tell you enjoyed writing it. Will the turbulence ever end? > > Alan C > > -----Original Message----- From: Daniel J. Matyola > Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 4:34 PM > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: Re: PESO: Holy Ghost > > Thanks, Alan, Christine, Attila and Jack! > > This church replaced a tiny church built back in the 1930s that was no > longer structurally sound. (I suspect that the original church was > built by the parishioners before building codes were enforced.) I > believe the bell is from the original church. In Russia, I saw > several old, heavy bells set up at ground level near a church or > cathedral. The most famous is the Tsar Bell, in the Moscow Kremlin. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell > > Alan, I agree that they did a great job combining a modern church with > the traditional architectural details of a Russian Orthodox structure. > > In the old country, now the Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine, My > grandfather belonged to the Greek Catholic or Uniate church, which was > Orthodox in liturgy and tradition, but a separate entity directly > under the pope, since the region was incorporated into the Austrian > Empire after the collapse of Kievan Rus in the 13th century. That > region was part of Hungary when my grandfather emigrated to the US, > later became part of Czechoslovakia, then was seized by the Soviets > during WWII, first as an independent region and then as part of the > Ukrainian SSR. > > When the Rusyns (or Ruthenians) can to the US, they collected money to > bring a few of their priests from Europe, but the priests were > rejected by the local Roman Catholic hierarchy. as a result, some > joined Russian Orthodox churches, some became Latin Rite Catholics, > but some, like my grandparents, opted to form their own churches, > following the pattern of those in Ruthenia. For decades, they > continued to operate as a tiny independent religious organization, but > late in the last century, they became part of the Orthodox Church in > America, along with the Greek Orthodox churches. > > Although I was raised Lutheran, I always went to the Rusyn Church with > my father on Christmas, Easter and family weddings and baptisms, and I > have clear memories of the tiny older church, without pews, men > standing on one side and the woman on the other, with the stirring > Russian chants, the intricate icons and the overwhelming incense. The > services are now in English, and the priests no longer have long > beards, but much of the traditional service remains. Many of my > cousins still belong to this church, and occasionally one of them will > host a traditional Russian Christmas Eve dinner on January 6, before > midnight mass. > Dan Matyola > http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > > > On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:33 AM, Alan C <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> A beautiful modern Church. What is the significance of the bell on a >> pedestal? >> >> Alan C >> >> -----Original Message----- From: Daniel J. Matyola >> Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 6:21 AM >> To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> Subject: PESO: Holy Ghost >> >> >> The Carpatho-Russian Othodox Church of the Holy Ghost. (My paternal >> grandfather was one of the origianal founding members.) >> http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17867842 >> Comments are invited. >> >> Dan Matyola >> http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. >> >> --- >> This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! 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