His Beatitude Sviatoslav calls on clergy, religious and faithful to take part in the celebrations on the occasion of the feast of St. Volodymyr the Great

The Head of the UGCC calls on “the clergy, religious, UGCC faithful and all people of good will to take part  this year in the solemn celebrations on the occasion of the feast of St. Volodymyr the Great, the Enlightener of Rus’-Ukraine,” thus reads the Appeal of the UGCC Primate on the occasion of the feast and the renewal of  baptismal vows. According to His Beatitude, with these liturgical acts [renewal of baptismal vows] we wish, first of all, to thank God for “the great gift of Baptism.” This is the gift which our ancestors were graced with more than a thousand years ago. But it is also a gift to “honour many generations of our compatriots who, throughout the whole period of Christian history of our nation, have preserved in their hearts this holy faith and transmitted it to us, their heirs”. However, the Head of the UGCC noted that every time when “we recall the Baptism of our ancestors in the river of Dnipro, the shadow of awareness of the wound of disunity casts over our joy, because it [the wound] remains open on the ecclesial body of our people”. The UGCC Primate highly regrets that the once united Metropoly of Kyiv, which was conceived from the source of St. Volodymyr’s Baptism, is divided today and her children, belonging to four traditional Ukrainian Churches (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) often “carry in their hearts after-pains from hurting events of our history, from prejudices and mistrust”. His Beatitude also recalled that the year 2011 “is the first year of the three-year preparation period of our Church toward the Jubilee of 1025^th Anniversary of Baptism of Rus’-Ukraine that we will commemorate in 2013. This first year of the preparation, according to the decision of the Synod of Bishops of Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric, is dedicated to the Word of God”. In this regard, it is worthwhile to begin with the simplest things – i.e. make the Word of God available to all of our compatriots by spreading the sacred scripts among our people. “In our country, which truly is called a Christian one, there should not be a house without a Bible – the Book containing the Word of God. Let priests-pastors dedicate enough time and attention to the preparation of Sunday homilies” – reads the Appeal.

UGCC Information Department