Lvov--Orthodox Demonstrate For Their Rights

[Kollyvas]

http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;9636/

Arsenal Building Threatens Kyiv Caves Monastery
27.03.2006, [12:53] // Construction //

Kyiv – Without any prior expert examination 1,200 wooden poles, each 24 meters high, were hammered near the huge basements of the building of Kyiv’s Old Arsenal, while the basements themselves were partly covered by concrete slabs. These constructions pose a threat to the stability of the hydro-geological conditions of the nearby ancient Kyivan Monastery of the Caves. There is water-soaked soil under the building. Specialists believe that after the construction of three underground levels and a glass cover above the patio, which will make the building much heavier, the unique monuments of the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves will start slipping into the Dnipro River. pravoslavie.ru posted the news on 22 March 2006.

Source:

• http://pravoslavie.ru/news/060322171905

[Kollyvas]

This article is unusual - I'm not sure what to make of this archbishop. Though it's technically religous, it has big political implications, hence my posting it here:

Ukrainian Church hierarch: Russia is the last buttress of Ukrainian Orthodoxy

Moscow, April 4, Interfax - Archbishop Augustine of Lvov is convinced Russia’s resolute interference is needed to solve problems faced by the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

‘We expect certain steps from Russia as a party waiting for the command to engage in the battle. I as representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church am convinced that uncertainty can swallow us up. The time has come for resolute action and for calling things their proper names,’ the archbishop stated at the meeting of the World Russian People’s Council in Moscow on Tuesday.

He said, ‘the fact that the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is a pillar Church in Ukraine today is ignored actively by the authorities.’

‘The president’s people treat our Church, to put it mildly, without sympathy, and this is very bad,’ the archbishop said noting that the Ukrainian authorities see the canonical Orthodox Church today as ‘Moscow’s fifth column’.

‘And we are exhausted. The only thing that inspires us is that we still believe in Russia. If the Lord sets you straight, we will also get over,’ he said.

from: http://www.interfax-religion.com

[Kollyvas]

http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;9771/

Rights of Faithful Violated in Ukraine, Says Russian Orthodox Head
06.04.2006, [19:54] // Violation of rights //

Moscow – Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II said that the rights of faithful of the canonical Orthodox church are violated in Ukraine. He spoke about this at the meeting of the World Russian People’s Council in Moscow on 4 April 2006.

“We constantly discuss and pay attention to the violation of the rights of the faithful of the canonical Orthodox church on the territory of Ukraine,” said Patriarch Alexis II.

According to him, the Russian Orthodox Church supports in all possible ways the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, “which serves under difficult conditions,” he said.

“We are categorically against the seizure of church buildings and against the local authorities giving them for the joint use” of different jurisdictions, he said.

He also said that “Ukraine has a single canonical church.”

Source:

• http://www.podrobnosti.com.ua/society/2 ... 02199.html

[Kollyvas]

http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;9837/

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Receives Highest Award of Autocephalous Orthodox
14.04.2006, [12:25] // UAOC //

Kharkiv – Following the decree of Archbishop Ihor Isichenko of Kharkiv and Poltava of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), Ukrainian National Deputy Mykhailo Kosiv, a member of the Committee on Issues of Spirituality and Freedom of Conscience at the Ukrainian Parliament and a layman of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, will be awarded the Medal of Patriarch Mstyslav, the highest honor of the UAOC. Kosiv has become the fourth Knight of the Medal of Patriarch Mstyslav. RISU’s Ukrainian-language site posted the news on 10 April 2006.

“Mykailo Kosiv’s firm and discreet position as to church policy and his numerous interpellations and addresses to state officials and his mission as mediator in relations between church communities and the government have made a great contribution to resolving interdenominational conflicts and conflicts between church and state, in particular regarding the revival of the constitutional rights of eastern Ukraine’s community of the UAOC,” reads the report of the UAOC Eparchy of Kharkiv and Poltava. “Kosiv’s political activity demonstrates his own active evangelical service, deep Christian faith, and subtle feeling of the common Ukrainian-Byzantine tradition as a basis for a partnership between the divided branches of the Kyivan church. Therefore the initiative to award Mykhailo Kosiv the Medal of Patriarch Mstyslav received general approval and support of the clergy and laity of the Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy of the UAOC.”

Honoring the 100th anniversary of Patriarch Mstyslav (1898-2003), the Patriarchal Council of the UAOC established the Medal of Patriarch Mstyslav, the highest award for secular politicians. This award is given on 10 April, Patriarch Mstyslav’s birthday, to the politician who has distinguished himself for spreading Christian values and defending the social rights of Ukraine’s church community.

Source: Press service of the Kharkiv and Poltava Eparchy of the UAOC

[Kollyvas]

http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/mod/ne ... le_id=7611

Ukrainian Orthodox Church leader against building nuclear burial ground in Chernobyl
Interfax

Chernobyl memorial : An Ukrainian nun attends a memorial service at the church marking the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear accident, in the town of Kiev. (AFP/Denis Sinyakov) Click on photos to enlarge.
Kiev, April 26, Interfax – Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine has come out against the building of a nuclear burial ground in the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power station.

He said the emerging discussion on this issue points to the fact that ‘the terrible lessons of the past have not taught us anything’.

‘The social problems caused by the Chernobyl tragedy should not be forgotten either. Urgent are still the problems of resettling people from the contaminated territory and social benefits to be given to the Chernobyl people’, the metropolitan said in an interview published by the church press service.

He also stressed that man-made and natural disasters, ‘which increasingly grow in scale with every step made in the development of human civilization’, are direct reflections of the processes that are underway in people and their souls.

According to Metropolitan Vladimir, Chernobyl is ‘a persistent wound on the body of our people’, and the Orthodox Church feels special responsibility for taking pastoral care of the Chernobyl people.

Thus, he continued, there is an Orthodox Parish of St. Elijah in Chernobyl, taking care of the power station staff and several hundreds of self-settlers in the zone. In Kiev, a church of the Lord’s Entry in Jerusalem has been opened for regular commemoration services for the victims of the Chernobyl tragedy. Nearby, there is a symbolic grave of the heroic liquidators who gave their lives to prevent a global catastrophe. A book with the names of the dead people of Chernobyl is kept in the church for eternal commemoration.

In addition, commemoration tokens have been erected in almost all the major cities in Ukraine on the Church’s initiative to remind people of the Chernobyl tragedy, the first hierarch added.