The leitmotif of this anniversary year is our gratitude to God for our predecessors, Fr. Marco Semehen about celebrating the anniversary of St. Sophia

The rector of the cathedral, Fr. Marco Semehen, who is also the president of the Saint Sophia Religious  spoke about the celebrations of the anniversary of the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in the Good Talk program at "Voskresinnia. Live Radio."

“The leitmotif of this anniversary year is our gratitude to God for our predecessors.  Patriarch Josyf Slipyj   created such a powerful spiritual and intellectual center to preserve our unity in Rome. Josyf Slipyj, being released from captivity, could not return to Ukraine. And in Rome, he is constructing this cathedral - the third Sophia - a temple that gathers all who are scattered; a place of prayer, faith and thought ... It is his spiritual child, which he built when he was free, but abroad.

Saint Sophia is one of the three Ukrainian churches in Rome, the largest and most powerful. It is a rectorial church, since it is located on the territory of the Latin parish, but has full autonomy from the Roman Cardinal. Recently, the next stage of the major restoration of the cathedral, including the restoration of valuable mosaics by Sviatoslav Gordynsky and the iconostasis of Juvenaliy Mokrytsky, has been completed; significant works have been carried out to preserve and strengthen the facade of the cathedral.

Father Marco Semehen also spoke about the program of commemoration of the jubilee year of St. Sophia Cathedral in Rome with the participation of His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Synod of the UGCC, the Fathers of the Church. A big number of pilgrims from Ukraine is planned for these celebrations.

On August 28, on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a forum will begin with the participation of members of Saint Sophia Society and pilgrims; seminarians of Lviv Theological Seminary will sing at the Liturgy; also, scheduled is an audience with His Beatitude.

On August 29, the Liturgy will be held at the tomb of St. Josaphat in the altar of St. Basil in St. Peter's Basilica, the main shrine of the Catholic world.

On August 30, another distinguished Liturgy will take place - for the first time in many years, in the Basilica of St. Clement, the fourth Pope.

"This is a symbolic moment, since the figure of St. Clement is connected with Ukraine," explained Fr. Marco. "This is the first Christian  missionary to preach the Gospel in Ukraine and perish on the Crimean Peninsula. His relics were searched and found by Cyril and Methodius,  part of them was transferred to Rome ... ”

On August 31, Saturday, St. Sophia Cathedral and Patriarch Josyf Museum will be open to pilgrims. In the afternoon there will be a presentation of Morris West's book "Fisherman's Boots" in Ukrainian translation - the biography of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj. This book was made into a feature film in 1968. In the evening there will be a Great Hierarchical Vespers with the participation of His Beatitude Sviatoslav and a demonstration of Olena Moshynska's documentary "Beatitude" - the second part of a dylogia about Patriarch Josyf.

The Divine Liturgy will take place on Sunday, September 1st at 10.00 am with the participation of His Beatitude Sviatoslav and all members of the Synod of the UGCC. In the end, the consecration of the jubilee cross in the courtyard of the cathedral. It is symbolic that the cross was made in Lviv, of Ukrainian white stone and brought from the spiritual homeland of the Partiarch Josyf. Afterwards - various festive events, choir concerts etc. The orchestra of the Lviv Theological Seminary, founded by Patriarch Josyf, will also perform.

The full program can be viewed here:

reradio.com.ua