Avakov promises to transfer St Casimir Church of Lviv to Armenian Catholic Church
The Church of St. Casimir in Lviv, which is owned by the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs, will be transferred to the Armenian Catholic Church. On May 23, Minister of Interior Affairs Arsen Avakov was reported as saying this during a meeting with a delegation of ACC, according to the website of the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine.
According to him, Ukraine has more than 80 different churches and sacred buildings that historically belonged to the national religious organizations of the Ukrainian Armenians. The Armenian religious communities were returned only five of them so far.
“It happened that the Interior Ministry - in the area of Lviv State University of Internal Affairs – owns a monument that belonged to the Armenian Catholic Church – the Church of St. Casimir. We have studied all the possibilities and have decided to return it at the disposal of the Armenian Catholic Church. For this we need to pass the church to the city urban community,” said the Minister of Interior.
Archbishop Raphael Francis Minassian, Head of Eastern Europe Ordinariate of the Armenian Catholic Church thanked the Interior Minister for assistance in establishing historical justice.
“What you are doing is priceless. Your actions can not be underestimated. The greatest value I can offer on my part is the blessing, the prayer for you, for your country, that peace and quiet reigned there,” he stressed.
In 1945 in western Ukraine, mass repression of the clergy and the Church were launched. According to historical sources, the final date of liquidation of the Archdiocese of Lviv of Armenian Catholic Church is believed to be October 25, 1946. The Parliament of Ukraine adopted the Resolution “On marking the 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the Armenian Catholic Church in Western Ukraine.”
The Church of St. Casimir was built in 1630. In Soviet times there was a labor colony for minors. From the 1980s the whole complex was used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, and since 1991 it has been on the books of Ministry of Interior of Ukraine.
