Head of the UGCC Presides over the Memorial Service for the Victims of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv
On November 23, 2024, Ukraine commemorates the 91 st anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932–1933, recognized as genocide. To mark this anniversary, the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, led a memorial service at the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide in Kyiv. Prior to that, the Head of the UGCC took part in an interfaith prayer at the Kyiv Cave Monastery together with the state authorities and religious leaders of Ukraine.
Panakhyda at the memorial
Praying with the Head of the UGCC were Archbishop Agapit of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Auxiliary Bishops Yosyf Milan and Andriy Khimyak of the Kyiv Archeparchy of the UGCC, and priests of the Kyiv Archeparchy of the UGCC.
The memorial prayer was also attended by the third President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, representatives of various civic organizations, the international non-governmental organization Ukrainian World Congress, and numerous faithful.
The prayer was accompanied by seminarians of the Kyiv Three Saints Theological Seminary singing.
The memorial service was followed by a nationwide minute of silence. At 16:00 Kyiv time, the nationwide action “Light a Candle” began.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, together with all those present, lit candles at the Bitter Memory of Childhood statue.
Interfaith prayer in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
In the morning of this day, a joint prayer for the victims of the Holodomor was held at the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra with the participation of the country’s military and political leadership, including President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska, along with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav recited the following prayer at the service: “Our God, Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! In You is the source of eternal life. You created human beings for immortality, granting them participation in Your Holy Mysteries. Today we beseech You: grant repose to the innocently starved to death in Ukraine Your servants, for You know their names. Forgive them their sins, voluntary and involuntary. Grant us all the hope of resurrection and eternal life! With the saints, give repose to the souls of Your servants O Christ, innocently killed by famine in Ukraine, where there is no pain, no sorrow, no crying, but life without end. Eternal memory to them! Amen.”
Reference
Holodomor Remembrance Day is celebrated annually on the fourth Saturday of November on the grounds of the 1998 and 2007 presidential decrees. On this day, Ukrainians light candles in churches and memorial sites in prayer for the millions of Ukrainians who died during the famines organized by the communist regime.
The UGCC Department for Information
