The international pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Saint Sofia in Rome has begun

On October 9, 2009, the international three-day pilgrimage of Ukrainians to the Cathedral of Saint Sofia in Rome began. The pilgrimage takes place with the support and blessing of His Beatitude Lubomyr on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of the blessing of the Cathedral of Saint Sofia in Rome, the 50^th anniversary of the dedication of the current Pontifical College of Saint Protection Veil (the former Small Seminary), the 65^th anniversary of the death of the Servant of God Metropolitan Andrey, and the 25^th anniversary of the death of the blessed memory of Patriarch Joseph. Today the pilgrims gathered together in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for the prayer service Acathistus to the Holy Mother of God, which was led by Bishop Iryney (Bilyk) and Bishop Hlib (Lonchyna) in concelebration with the priests of the UGCC. At the completion of the prayer, Fr. Ivan Muzychka, Ph.D., gave a speech in which he remarked that the Cathedral of Saint Sofia in Rome always was and remains the source of the theological idea for the Greek Catholic Church. “While during the communist regime the Cathedral of Saint Sofia in Kyiv was closed, the Rome’s Sofia cherished the theological idea.”

www.ucu.edu.ua/ukr/academics/ucu.rym/