UAOC celebrates 20 years in Ukraine

LVIV (RISU) - In Lviv, August 19, 2009, took place a series of events dedicated to the celebration of the third revival of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). The celebration began with a Holy Liturgy in the Sts. Peter and Paul Church, in which 20 years ago priests Volodymyr Yarema and Ivan Pashulya declared their withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
A public prayer was held near the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Church on Ruska Street. The celebration was ended in later that day with a special concert in a local theater.

Metropolitan of Halych and Ivano-Frankivsk Andrij (Abramchuk) took part in the opening of the celebratory events, where he called to build church life. According to him, everything is still not right in UAOC life; however, it has an idea and it has a large number of faithful and young priests who can develop the church.

Deputy Head of the Lviv Oblast State Administration Ihor Derzhko noted the large contribution to the community of the UAOC in the state-building process in Ukraine and in the spiritual development of the Ukrainian people. Advisor to the mayor of Lviv with humanitarian questions Vasyl Kosiv presented the Lviv Archbishop Makarij (Maletych) a diploma from the city head Andrij Sadovyj for his work in the sphere of spiritual growth of the Ukrainian nation.

Bishop Makarij expressed that the eparchial administration of the Lviv eparchy of the UAOC works well with the government with full mutual understanding.

The head of the UOC in America (Constantinople Patriarchate) Metropolitan Kostyantyn (Bahan) was represented by a member of the metropolitan council Stepan Halyk-Holotyak, who stressed that Metropolitan Kostyantyn worries about the affairs of the church in Ukraine and attests before the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew about the desire of the Ukrainian people to have an independent Orthodox Church. Stepan Halyk-Holotyak also gave a greeting from the Ukrainian priests of the UOC in America. He stressed that 20 years ago the dream of all Ukrainians in the world was realized – to have an independent church. The speaker addressed those present with a call to analyze what was reaped in the last 20 years and if the products are worthy. He called on Ukrainians to live in love.

Archbishop Makarij (Maletych) in his turn noted that the next anniversary will be celebrated differently because he expects that in Ukraine there will be the process of overcoming the division and it will be directed to the creation of a united national church.

In addition to the events in Lviv, celebrations also took place in Kharkiv. According to the information of the consistory of the Kharkiv and Poltava eparchy, on August 19 in all parishes there were celebratory divine services, in which there was a prayer for Metropolitan Kostyantyn who in 2000 took the UAOC under his spiritual guardianship. Archbishop of Kharkiv and Poltava Ihor (Isichenko) in his sermon, brought attention to the necessity to use the anniversary for spiritual renewing, to deeply think over the reasons of the crisis which haunted the UAOC in Ukraine since 1989 and still do.

In the evening of the 19th began a pilgrimage of faithful of the Kharkiv-Poltava eparchy of the UAOC to Zarvanytsia. The goal of the pilgrimage is to hold a thanksgiving prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her motherly guardianship over the Kyiv Church and for the spiritual experience of the 20 years serving the UAOC in Ukraine.

On August 20 the 20th anniversary was celebrated in Ivano-Frankivsk, and on the 21st the celebration will continue in Kam’yanets-Podilsk.