The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, which has 7 million followers, said he was stepping down on Thursday -- a rare occurrence in multi-faith Ukraine where patriarchs normally stay in office until they die.
Cardinal Lubomyr Husar has headed the Greek Catholic Church — Ukraine’s third largest in terms of followers after the Russian Orthodox Church and the separate Ukrainian Orthodox Church — since 2001.
"I steeled myself to take this step. It is unprecedented in the past several hundred years. Usually they died or there were special circumstances," Lubomyr, 77, told a news conference. "I don’t have the physical strength any more for these duties".
A Synod will convene in the next few months to elect a successor.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which recognises the spiritual authority of the Vatican, was banned in Soviet times.
Lubomyr, who was born in western Ukraine, emigrated to the United States in 1949 and returned to Ukraine only after it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.
He said Pope Benedict had accepted his "abdication".
Lubomyr, who has headed 5.5 million Greek Catholics in Ukraine and 1.5 million in Europe, the United States and Australia, said his decision to step down was not linked to Ukraine’s internal political situation.
New Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, elected a year ago, leans more towards the Moscow Church.
"The political situation is very changeable and I did not take it into account when I made my decision. The Church lives through many favourable and unfavourable events," he said.
