Ukrainians pray for peace and independent Ukraine
In all churches of Ukraine, prayer services for the Homeland are dedicated to the 28th anniversary of Independence. The main prayer, as previously reported, was held in St Sofia of Kyiv where leaders of all Churches and religious organizations prayed for peace and prosperity in Ukraine.
The Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy, said this in his prayer:
“Oh Lord, we are Your people, and we are asking for the prayers of Your Most Holy Mother and the intercession of all the saints for the Ukrainian people: grant us unity, intensify our love and inspire wisdom, and teach forgiveness so that we may always glorify Your Holy Name all times and everywhere." Subsequently, Metropolitan Epifaniy led the Divine Liturgy for Ukraine at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral.
Patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav proclaimed in St Sofia of Kyiv: “The Ukrainian state is the only guarantee today that our dignity - national and public - can be protected.” Liturgies and prayers for Ukraine were held in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the UGCC and in all Greek Catholic churches throughout Ukraine.
Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine Vitaly Kryvytsky said this in St Sophia of Kyiv: “God's wisdom is needed for the new leadership of the state, every parliamentarian and government official in light of the many challenges that the Ukrainian state faces.”
It should be reminded that on the eve of the Independence Day, the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine congratulated Ukraine's citizens with the Independence Day.
The senior bishop of the Ukrainian Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith, Mykhailo Panochko, said at a prayer service in St Sofia of Kyiv, “When praying for Ukraine, we humbly ask Him for peace, prosperity, welfare and knowledge of God for every Ukrainian.”
Rabbi Jacob Dov Bleich, President of the Association of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine, said, “We must remember that without God, religion and faith, we cannot achieve anything. We need to find a middle ground for the state to respect religion, for religion to respect the state, to be partners in what is permitted by the Constitution. And all this is for the benefit of the development of a normal democratic society.”
The prayer in St. Sophia was also attended by Head of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine Stanislav Nosov; Bishop of the Ukrainian Diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church Marcos Hovhannisyan; Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church Leonid Padun; Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Free Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith Vasyl Raychynets; First Deputy Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches, Ihor Bandura; President of the Ukrainian Bible Society Hryhoriy Kommandant; Imam of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine Sheikh Hasan Akhatov; Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine Sviatoslav Fechtel, according to the UGCC Information Department.
Representatives of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate together with opposition pro-Russian politicians prayed on the Independence Day in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
They prayed there for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshhorod and Chornobyl led the worship service.
