EuroMaidan Rally Begins with Ecumenical Prayer
The rally to mark Dignity Day, which was held on Sunday on Independence Square (Maidan) in Kyiv, began with an ecumenical prayer service and blessing.
The thousands of participants of EuroMaidan were addressed by representatives of six Christian denominations – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (AUOC), the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, and the Union of Evangelical Christians.
Each of the speakers spoke about the solidarity of the church with the protesters, and stressed the need for peaceful protests.
Archbishop Klementiy of Simferopol and Crimea of the UOC-KP gave the first speech and gave Patriarch Filaret’s blessing. He said that Patriarch Filaret constantly prays for the people and for Ukraine.
The UOC-KP representative also thanked the EuroMaidan for the support the activists gave his eparchy.
“When the eparchy suffered grief, when attackers set fire to a wooden church in Yalta, you helped revive it. May God bless you for your kindness,” he said.
Apostolic Exarch of the UGCC in France, Switzerland, and the Benelux countries, Bishop Borys Gudziak, passed on to the participants of the EuroMaidan greetings from the leadership of the UGCC and the Synod of Bishops. Bishop Gudziak compared the protests on the Maidan, which have been held for many days already, with a pilgrimage.
“The whole world is watching you, watching because we are on a peaceful pilgrimage with songs and prayers on our lips. This pilgrimage will not be simple or short, and before us today the Lord raises the questions: Are you willing to call a spade a spade? Are you ready to follow the truth? Today we are together. But when we are at home in the workplace, we need to convey this spirit of peace and solidarity and great responsibility, require from ourselves what we demand of others,” said Bishop Borys Gudziak.
Representative of the UAOC, Bishop Volodymyr Vyshhorod and Podil, assured the Maidan that the faithful and clergy of his church are on the side of the protesters and pray for them every day.
Archbishop Petro Malchuk of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine called on all Roman Catholics and people of good will to pray and fast. He said that according to the teachings of the Catholic Church, the people have the right to courageously, by overcoming fear, speak out against persecution and to protect a just cause.
