Pastoral Care
DFCI chaplain greets Ukraine president
Institute Chaplain, Fr. Yaroslav Nalysnyk (left), and his daughter, Marta (right), were among the many members of the region's Ukrainian community to welcome Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko to Boston.
Dana-Farber Chaplain Yaroslav Nalysnyk helped officially welcome his fellow countryman, Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko, to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Tuesday, April 5. Yushchenko was in town to accept the 2005 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award from Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg and Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
Crowds of people from the local Ukrainian community gathered inside and outside the library to congratulate Yushchenko. Nalysnyk, who was there in his priest's collar, greeted the Ukrainian president and presented him with a Christian icon of St. Mary, mother of Jesus. The icon represents spiritual protection for the Ukrainian nation: In 1037, Yaroslav Mudryj (The Wise), the Kyiv prince, dedicated Rus-Ukraine to the "Mother of God" and her protection. Additionally, Ukrainian Kozaks (soldiers) always carried the icon of the Mother of God. Though they were tough military men, they also relied on her spiritual protection.
Marta Nalysnyk, Yaroslav's daughter and a former part-time DFCI staffer before she began studying at Harvard this year, presented the visiting dignitary with bread on traditional Ukrainian embroidered cloth, which represents hospitality and shows honor to one's guests. Other members of the Nalysnyk family were also in attendance.
Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko (left) accepts gift from Institute Chaplain Fr. Yaroslav Nalysnyk.
"This is a historical event, a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence," said Nalysnyk. "The award is a big honor for Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukraine community, and the Ukraine nation."
Yushchenko — despite an assassination attempt by a near-lethal poisoning from dioxin, and repeated efforts by political opponents to rig his defeat through election fraud —- galvanized the majority of Ukraine citizens who ultimately supported him as their democratically elected leader. His election as president of Ukraine has been hailed throughout the international community as a triumph for democracy.
"President Kennedy believed that one man of courage makes a majority," Schlossberg, president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, said while presenting the award's sterling silver lantern. "Viktor Yushchenko embodies that belief for a new generation. In the face of corruption, intimidation and life-threatening danger, he remained true to the ideals of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. His courage has inspired citizens of the world."
Says Nalysnyk: "I was blessed to meet him. He is perceived as a martyr right now. The Ukraine saw in him hope for changing a corrupt system. Yushchenko is a man of courage and deserves this award."
Presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the consequences, the award is named for President Kennedy's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators in American history who withstood strong opposition and risked their careers to fight for what they believed was the right course of action. Past recipients include President Gerald Ford, the peacemakers of Northern Ireland, senators John McCain and Russell Feingold, Congressman John Lewis, and Dr. Sima Simar of Afghanistan.
