|
C a r p a t h o - R u s y n R a d i o P r o g r a m
Blessing & Dedication of the Cornerstone of the 
Jerry Jumba: Ladies and Gentlemen, at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, Pennsylvania there was a wonderful ceremony this past weekend on Sunday, August the 18th. A cornerstone was blessed for a new Rusyn wooden church that is being built. We have today three people who are going to give brief statements about it. This was an event of great cultural and spiritual merit for America's Carpatho-Rusyns. The building of a new Rusyn wooden church is important to our cultural life. Interviews with: Interview with Architect Joseph Parimucha Jerry Jumba: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have Joseph Parimucha, the architect of the Rusyn style wooden church that is being built at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, PA. This is a wonderful church being built for the Orthodox Eparchy of Johnstown. We have a statement from Mr. Parimucha about the meaning of this church. Now that the cornerstone has been blessed and there was a beautiful event last Sunday - we bring this commentary from the architect Mr. Joseph Parimucha. Welcome, Joe! What is the church all about? How does it point to the future? Joseph Parimucha: The design was created to provide a connection to our young people in particular with their past, both their ancestral heritage and the spiritual heritage of their church. It indicates where they came from, rather than having them wonder about their history, both their family history and the church. This provides the base upon which to build their future. We think that the reinforcement provided by people who visited the site on Sunday who participated from all over the diocese indicates that it is just as important to them as we have perceived it to be in the future. It is a very symbolic building. Jerry Jumba: I understand that there were some seven hundred people in attendance? Joeseph Parimucha: Our understanding is that they were feeding between seven hundred and eight hundred people. That was an excellent representation of the interest in this project -- as well as the event itself. Our intent was to create a collective memory with this project. The Heritage Center will be on the lower level, and that has not been mentioned until now, but the stone base of the building provides symbolically the base -- the connection with the history of the people. The contents of that lower level will be a Heritage Center and a Museum, telling the children about the past and allowing them to connect to the future, and then of course the spiritual heritage of the church above it rises to the spires. We will have four spires and cupolas on the upper portion of the church. We had a saying for a while -- that it is being created for the future of our faith and heritage -- and we think that still applies. Jerry Jumba: Joe, thank you so much for giving a post-event statement, and a description of the church. This is wonderful! Will you talk to us again about the church? Joseph Parimucha: I'd be thrilled to talk again. Jerry Jumba: Good! I have more questions for you. It is a great attraction and an inspiration as well. And we will be talking more about it. Thank you Joe Parimucha! Joseph Parimucha: Thank you! Interview with Metropolitan Nicholas (Smisko) Jerry Jumba: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have Metropolitan Nicholas of the Johnstown Eparchy of the Orthodox Church and he has impressions of the wonderful event that occurred at Camp Nazareth last Sunday. Bishop Nicholas, welcome! Metropolitan Nicholas: Thank you very much for your kind words. I am very happy and elated over the fact that we had very successful gathering of our people in the Diocese, and Rusyns from the Byzantine Catholic Church, and people from other groups that came to witness the blessing of the cornerstone of the new Carpatho-Rusyn wooden church that is being erected, and placed under the patronage of Saints Cyril and Methodius. We witnessed a blessing of three large church bells--a gift of our St. Mary's' church in Bloomfield, West Virginia. We witnessed a blessing of the ground for the construction of the bell tower. Why do I mention all this--because this is a "first" for our Diocese, and the people have responded tremendously over the year-and-a-half campaign to raise over a million dollars for this brand new church. Next year we will bless it without any debt. The most important thing here is that this is the first Carpatho-Rusyn wooden church in our Diocese and it is something that has awakened our people to their roots -- to an appreciation of their faith -- to an appreciation of their heritage, and an appreciation of our first people who came here -- our immigrant priests and people who came and settled in this part of Pennsylvania and this entire country. The church stands as a witness of our transfiguration, and our transfiguration is that we have seen the beauty of our heritage -- we have seen the beauty of this church. People came not only to see the construction of the church, but also to be a part of the blessing ceremony that took place, and to feel "at home" with our people here, and abroad. Not only that. Many of them felt that they were in absolute spiritual contact with our people who had settled here some one hundred years ago. Jerry Jumba: It is a beautiful super-structure already that we perceive(?) and with the blessing of the cornerstone, with the hierarchical Divine Liturgy, and with the beautiful chant that we heard,(?) Metropolitan Nicholas: The cantors and the people responded by singing in a magnificent way. We really hear the beauty of our plain chant, our "prostopinije" reflected in those daylong services. I am most thankful to God, and to everyone who came. Jerry Jumba: We had the Homestead Choir performing here with Andrew Talarovich. We had a beautiful sing-along, and we had the Binghamton, New York group from Saint Michael's -- performing the dances of Carpatho-Rus' -- all in celebration of the day. Metropolitan Nicholas: And next year the consecration of the entire church will take place. Jerry Jumba: Well, it was a very impressive event. I was there, and I am so pleased that would give us an afterglow commentary on the day! Thank you so much Bishop Nicholas! Metropolitan Nicholas: You are most welcome! Z Bohom, a ja Rusyn byl, jesm' i budu! Jerry Jumba: Djakuju krasno. Z Bohom. Interview with Slovak Embassy Consul, Mr. Igor Pacolak Jerry Jumba: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have here Mr. Igor Pacolak. He is a native of Presov, and he has comments about the Camp Nazareth event that we have been talking about. He was there representing the Slovak Embassy. Mr. Pacolak, welcome to the show! Consul Igor Pacolak: Thank you very much Mr. Jumba. Jerry Jumba: Mr. Pacolak, what are your impressions of the day from speaking with the many people who talked to you, and from attending the religious services, and seeing the performances? What are your impressions that day, and why did the Slovak Embassy send you to be a part of that day? Consul Igor Pacolak: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to extend my gratitude to Metropolitan Bishop Nicholas for inviting us for this important event. It impressed me really very much to see hundreds of countrymen to gather at Camp Nazareth. What impressed me most was maybe to see so many young people and children which have close relations to the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, and personally -- to Metropolitan Nicholas. It makes me believe that the future of the church is bright and secure. People are able to build their own camp and a beautiful new church without any contributions from the government. I also was impressed by the interest people have in their homeland, Slovakia. I spoke to many people, and many of them mentioned in one way or the other -- their roots, relatives, and places in Slovakia -- especially in the eastern part of the country where I come from. I was really pleased that I recognized many villages and places they were talking about. So it was really an excellent opportunity for our embassy to introduce our work to the community because me -- being a Consul -- of course with responsibilities mainly to help Slovak citizens who are in the United States, and assist them in distress, and to help foreigners know whatever they want to know about Slovakia. For instance, in these days the priority is the assistance to Slovak regions that are damaged by the recent floods. Just this morning we discussed with Ambassador Butora the creation of a special account of the embassy, which will be open today for the convenience of voluntary donators. So, the work here at the embassy is very versatile and the embassy is working as a team under the leadership of the ambassador. Jerry Jumba: Then, let me ask you finally: (?) Because you have both Rusyn and Slovak heritage in your family? Consul Igor Pacolak: Yes? Jerry Jumba: How does this help you in your Consul work in the United States? Consul Igor Pacolak: Ah yes. This information is correct, and you know that Slovakia consists of many nationalities and minorities, and coming from such an environment makes us all more tolerant and makes us understand more what the multi-cultural society is like -- what the United States definitely is. The Slovak community here in the United States is very large and significant for us. We are working with this community closely in order to achieve the growth of our government policies. We also know that on September 20 and 21 we have parliamentary elections and shortly after there is a NATO summit in Prague where we expect an invitation to the alliance and the Slovak community either Roman Catholic or Greek Catholic or Orthodox, or Lutheran -- all these communities have still been very supportive in achieving this goal, and let me use this opportunity to express our gratitude for their support and their help for all these years. Jerry Jumba: Well, it is very good to hear the spirit of unity, even though there is cultural diversity. This is a beautiful thought to put into action in your work. I must thank you for coming on the Carpatho-Rus' Radio Program today. We are honored by your presence. Consul Igor Pacolak: Thank you very much, Mr. Jumba. Jerry Jumba: Z Bohom! Thank you very much! Consul Igor Pacolak: Z Bohom! Bye Bye. |
