Any time a Rusyn institution is established, the following doubts are raised: Why was it established? What is its mission? Every novelty attracts general attention, especially in Rusyn life, as new establishments are expected to bring new quality.
The above-mentioned issues were discussed at the Ceremonial Inaugural of the Congress of Academy of Rusyn Culture in Slovakia, which took place on September 10th, 2005 in Presov. A group of 17 notable personalities of cultural-social, academic and national-religious Rusyn life in Slovakia gathered at the inaugural congress. Aleksander Zozulyak, M.A, the governor of the Academy for secular section, who was granted the Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Rusyn Nation (by the Carpatho-Rusyn Research Centre in Ocale, Florida, USA, the patron of which is Mr. Steven Chepa, Toronto) talked about the structure and mission of the academy. Moreover, he elaborated on the newly launched website, which provides information (in Rusyn, Slovak and English) about the Academy of Rusyn Culture in Slovakia; The World Congress of Rusyns which takes place in Slovakia; as well as the life of Rusyns living in Slovakia and abroad. As Mr. Zozulyak emphasized, the main mission of this academic and charitable institution is to initiate and encourage new standards, especially in the area of Rusyn cultural development. Besides, the academy has further objectives such as encouraging young talent, presenting Rusyn contemporaneousness and history, improvement of language and literary culture. Within the academy, the following sections were established: linguistics, literature, history, ethnography, fine and dramatic arts, politics, media, youth and religion.
Father Frantisek Krajnyak, a devoted Rusyn nationalist and Greek-Catholic priest from Medzilaborce, was appointed the second governor for the clerical section. He talked about the issues of Rusyns’ clerical life. He considers religious life a part of every nation’s culture, including Rusyn. In his opinion, the Rusyn language is of great importance as a liturgical and pastoral language of Greek-Catholic and Orthodox Churches; thus, he drew attention to the importance of translating liturgical books into Rusyn. F. Krajnyak is very vigorous in this field; however, he does not always get the approval of the upper clergy. Nevertheless, he does not give up but keeps working. After translating the Gospels and Apostles for Sundays and Holy Days of The Year, he and other devoted people are working on translations of further religious literature into Rusyn and he is just about to finish Mathew and Mark’s Gospels. However, it is still doubtful whether he will get the bleesing of the bishop of Presov diocese Mon. Jan Babyak. Father Josafat Timkovich, the author of several interesting ecclesiastical books also contributed to the debate. Being a Rusyn and a member of Basilian order, he is working on a publication entitiled ‘Rusyns and Basilians in Sacred Documents.’ He declared that there is no need to be pessimistic as the last census of residents showed that 35 thousand Greek-Catholics living in Slovakia proclaimed Rusyn their mother tongue, which shows great and precious spiritual potential. It is up to these people to look after their ecclesiastic and national life.