In the Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv Began the Celebration of the Day of Baptism of Kyivan Rus

On July 25 in Kyiv in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ began the celebration of the 1022^nd anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with the participation of the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Lubomyr. In the solemn Divine Service in the main church of the UGCC, which is located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, took part priests and laity of the Kyivan Archeparchy of the UGCC, along with pilgrims from Canada and their pastors. The Hierarchal Divine Liturgy was completed with a renewal of baptismal vows, which was carried out by Bishop Joseph (Milyan), the auxiliary bishop of the Kyivan Archeparchy of UGCC. Underlining the significance of Volodymyr the Great, the then leader of Kyivan Rus, in accepting Christianity as the state religion of our ancient country, the head of the UGCC noted: “Let’s say: Equal-to-the-apostles Prince Volodymyr. Equal to the apostles because to the pagans he brought the Gospel… Therefore the Baptism of Rus is not such a historical date. It is a very important step which has to be realized and understood by everybody.” We remind that the tradition to renew baptismal vows during the celebration of Volodymyr’s Baptism of Kyivan Rus was started after the Patriarchal Synod of 2006.

Information Department of the UGCC