Kiev, Sep. 29 (CWNews.com) - The leader of the Eastern-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church has called for the creation of a single Eastern Church in that country, joining the Catholic and Orthodox under a single patriarch.

The religious tensions that trouble Ukraine could be solved, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar said, "if Ukraine had one patriarch for all." He told the Religious Information Service of Ukraine that on this basis, Ukrainian Christians could "return to the primary unity."

The Ukrainian prelate argued that "neither Moscow nor Rome will give us unity." Instead, he said, Ukrainian Catholics should join in a single Church, and then "Rome, Constantinople, or Moscow-- which is much younger compared to them-- will just accept this fact."

It is not essential, Cardinal Husar said, that the patriarch of this Ukrainian Church should be a Catholic. The single requirement for such a leader, he said, is that "this patriarch should be a man capable of uniting everyone."

However, the leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church-- which is the largest Eastern Church in communion with Rome-- went on to say that a united Ukrainian Church must also be in communion with Rome. Therefore, he said, even if the patriarch is not now a Catholic, he would soon enter into full communion with the Holy See.

Cardinal Husar holds the title of Major Archbishop, but the Ukrainian Catholic Church has long sought recognition as a patriarchate. Cardinal Husar argues that recognition of a Ukrainian Catholic patriarchate would be a logical step, in the "natural development for a local Church in the Eastern tradition."

However, the Major Archbishop continued, neither the Vatican nor the Ukrainian Orthodox leadership properly understand the role of an autonomous Eastern Catholic Church. He argued that the unity within the Catholic Church "should be built not on uniformity, but on the preservation of everyone's own tradition. Cardinal Husar said that the Ukrainian Catholic Church is preserving the traditions of Eastern Christianity today, and Orthodox leaders should recognize the value of that continuity with the Christian traditions of Ukraine.

The Orthodox Church in Ukraine today is split into three different competing factions. After Ukraine won independence, with the fall of the Soviet empire, Metropolitan Filaret-- who had been recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as spiritual leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox-- split with Moscow to set up the Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Kiev Patriarchate. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Moscow Patriarchate retains strong ties to the Russian Church. These two factions are joined by a third smaller group, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church, in competing for Orthodox leadership.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Moscow Patriarchate has clashed regularly with the Eastern Catholic Church, particularly over the decision by Cardinal Husar to move his headquarters from Lviv to Kiev. While Russian Orthodox prelates denounced the move as a infringement on the traditional Orthodox territory of Kiev, Patriarch Filaret, the rival Orthodox leader, welcomed the move.

Cardinal Husar said that the rivalries within the Ukrainian Orthodox community complicate his efforts to obtain a new union among Ukrainians Christians of the Eastern tradition. "We are in a rather chaotic state" in talks among religious leaders, he said. The Catholic prelate said that he hopes Orthodox leaders can resolve their disputes, since a united Orthodox representation would make "concrete talk much easier."

"The Church should be one, and we all recognize it," the Ukrainian Catholic leader said. The Eastern Christians of Ukraine, he concluded, need "one patriarch and one patriarchate."