Ukrainian cardinal said new vote was best way out of electoral crisis

Published: 2004-12-03

ROME (CNS) -- The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, in Rome to confer with Pope John Paul II, said a new presidential vote with international monitors was the best and simplest way out of Ukraine's electoral crisis. Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Lviv made the remarks at a Rome press conference Dec. 3, shortly before the Ukrainian Supreme Court invalidated a November election that had been awarded to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Opposition party candidate Viktor Yushchenko, along with many international observers and church leaders, had said the elections were marred by fraud. The Supreme Court's decision called for a new runoff Dec. 26. Cardinal Husar said Ukrainian Catholics had been quietly praying for the Supreme Court to "do what was right," recognizing that the judges were under extreme pressure from the government. The cardinal said he planned to meet the pope Dec. 9 to discuss the crisis. He said he would thank the pontiff for his recent prayers for Ukraine and also would ask him to make a public statement emphasizing the moral duty of governments to hold fair elections. Cardinal Husar said he understood the Vatican's reluctance to intervene directly in political matters, but he said the pope could simply underline that "a state or government or ruling power has to observe moral principles and has to be guided by them and respect the people it serves."

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