Ukrainian Church, South Side, Pittsburgh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBzr9BGxZ1U

In the distance, the Monongahela River and what once used to be steel mills. Across from a car wash and a few blocks away from numerous ethnic restaurants and bars, sits the genteel old Ukrainian Catholic church of St. John the Baptist in the South Side  of Pittsburgh.

We stepped in -and were immediately taken back in time to the Roman Catholic church prior to Vatican II: the priest with his back to the small congregation, a sung liturgy and an oppressive splendor that contrasts with the simplicity of the modern Catholic mass.  A contrast that was clear in the portraits of Popes and Patriarchs that hung side by side just inside the floridly decorated church doors. It was a reminder that in Pope Francis we have a leader who is moving us forward.