Patriarch’s Priestly Vocation Born Under Communist Rule

From a recent interview by Zenit with Patriarch Sviatoslav:

I grew up in a completely atheistic society where all forms of the transcendental were eliminated. We were taught that there is no God. The family, however, taught a different value and became the vehicle that transmitted the Christian faith. It was during these times that I was able to assist in very specific situations in the manifestation of the Church as a community and as a body of Christ. For example, when a person dies, the Church unites around this person in prayer. This was how, for the first time I met a priest who came in the middle of the night to celebrate the funeral and then would quietly disappear. And, like a small boy I was curious as to who this person – the priest – was and what was he doing. I saw in that person a real witness of the presence of Christ. This priest was imprisoned twice because of his ministry and through this priest, I really found someone and something worth giving one’s life for. This was an alternative, especially for us young people, to the official values that society was teaching us. This is how I discovered the presence of the Church in an atheistic society…

I met my seminary professors at least once every two months and when I met with them, I was always given a book. I would then copy and study the book for two months. This method allowed me to study and have a copy for myself of the Gospel of St. Luke for example. This is how my initial formation began. This kind of formation would have taken years to prepare me properly for the priesthood and I know that it was not enough, but this is how I started my priestly formation…

As a teenager, at that time I was not aware of the dangers because it was completely a secret and every teenager had his own secret. Neither my mother nor my father were aware of this and this was my personal secret. It was after a year that I understood the dangers that could have resulted had I been discovered by the secret police. My parents: my mother was a music teacher and my father was an engineer. Had I been discovered my parents would have lost their jobs. Many people in Ukraine, in the past, who were discovered were either imprisoned or exiled. At that time, however, I did not fully understand nor was I aware of the dangers and the persecution, which was going on in Ukraine.

For the full interview, go to the Zenit website.