It has been reported that the Eastern-rite Catholics in Ukraine have moved the headquarters of their church from the western city of Lviv to the capital, Kiev. Eastern-rite Catholics bear allegiance to the Pope but follow Orthodox rituals.
A Mass was held with tight security for 1,000 believers by Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, the head of the Greek Catholic Church, to mark the move.
Three hundred mainly Orthodox believers have protested and denounced the move which may damage ties between the Vatican and Russia’s Orthodox Church which influences Ukraine. They accused the Vatican of proselytising and chanted, "Orthodox or death!" The protestors shouted, "You can kill us but you cannot take our faith from us!"
BBC news has stated that the move has been described as an “unfriendly” act, by Patriarch Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
"We don't threaten anybody, we don't want to threaten any Orthodox Church," said Cardinal Husar, as he conducted the service outside a church being built for followers of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic (or Uniate) Church.
"The headquarters of any religious community should be in the capital."
Officials from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate) joined the service though it is not recognised by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Uniate Church is claims to have six million members mainly in western Ukraine and 1.5 million more among Ukrainians living in Russia.
The Uniate Church was reportedly established in 1569 when Ukraine was part of Catholic Poland. From the beginning, the “Union” of both churches brought controversy and Orthodox Christians viewed it as an invasion of part of their own church by Rome.
The Uniate Church was banned as the Orthodox Russian Empire expanded into Ukraine in the 17th and 18th century.
The Church only survived in old Polish states which form part of western Ukraine, which became part of the Catholic Austrian Empire in 1772.
According to BBC’s European affairs analyst Jan Repa, the Uniate Church is indicating that it sees itself as a pan-Ukrainian church rather than a regional peculiarity, in its decision to move its headquarters to Kiev.
