What is your state of mind as you start your new service?

I’m hopeful. At the beginning I seek to listen and learn, to become brother, father, and pastor for the clergy and faithful. It is important to pray and think things through, to develop a future vision for the Archeparchy of Philadelphia and to work closely with the other eparchies of the metropolia, as well the Eastern Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox bishops and their clergy and faithful. I hope that we can make a step forward in seeking ecumenical cooperation with our Protestant neighbors, and inter-religious inter-ethnic, and interracial harmony. The poor and marginalized should be in our heart. In the Ukrainian Catholic University, for example, the mentally handicapped became central to our pedagogy and mission. The poor can help us see God, because Jesus is poor in this world. I believe that we need to listen to each other and speak heart to heart. I hope to lead by listening to the Lord and my brothers and sisters. For now, it’s essential for me to hear well and not prematurely to formulate agendas, which might be merely of my own making.

You were born and raised in America, but you lived 30 years of your adult life in Europe. How do you perceive the US at the present time? What are the needs of Ukrainians of the different waves of immigration?

Countries and cultures are diverse, but the basic spiritual DNA of all human beings is the same. Over my lifetime, I have had the opportunity to live or serve in a dozen countries. In recent years, I usually crossed an international border at least twice a week.

Because my aged mother, of blessed memory, who died last June, lived alone in Syracuse and needed support, I traveled to the US three or four times annually. I observed the deepening divisions in American society, the superficiality of moral discourse, social media, and the increasing virtuality of interpersonal communication. We are becoming increasingly addicted to stimuli—gastronomic, chemical, informational, sensual. These same challenges are prevalent both in Western and Eastern Europe and concern Ukrainian immigrants of different waves. In the twenty-first century we all are called to start over, to go deeper, to follow Jesus’ calling “put out into the deep” without fear—duc in altum! Pope St. John Paul II called it the “New Evangelization.” In this life the greatest depth is in the human heart. We need to hear the heart’s beat and its yearning; and the heart needs to realize its true destiny. That is where God speaks. This is my first task as an archbishop-nominee: to listen carefully, thoughtfully, prayerfully.

Do you feel like coming home?

Yes, it is a homecoming for reasons I’ve already mentioned and for others. After decades of an itinerant life, the definition of home for me ceased to be merely geographic. For me, home is a place where I live good relationships reflecting our relationship with God. Yes, I feel I’m coming home, not only because of my personal history, but because there are good, godly people in America, in our Church, as well as outside of it.

As scandals in Pennsylvania and other states are made public, the Catholic Church in the US endures difficult times. Now, being a member of the US bishops’ conference, how will you face this challenge?

Sexual abuse of young people, or indeed of anyone, in the Church and outside of it is a great scandal of our time. The suffering of the victims is unspeakable. It is a spiritual crisis. At issue is a profound lack of virtue. We need conversion, a return to the basics. Much has been done in the Church to begin addressing it. But clearly much more needs to be done. I admire those who deal with the crisis squarely. I understand that today in America the Church is among the safest places for young people. But still much needs to be done to heal wounds of the past, to hear the victims who were silent for decades. I hope that the Church purifies itself so that it can continue to be a leader in the struggle for dignity and safety of all vulnerable persons throughout their life from conception to natural death.