Ukraine gears up for the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Kyiv and Lviv ... (05/06/01)

A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...

Ukraine gears up for the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Kyiv and Lviv ...

by Deanna Yurchuk

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Probably the most momentous event in Ukraine this summer is the papal visit scheduled for June. Pilgrims from near and far will travel to Ukraine to greet the holy father at this historic event during which Pope John Paul II will be in Ukraine for five days and will meet with the populace in Kyiv and Lviv.

The Eastern Economist reports that Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko expects nearly 300,000 pilgrims and 15,000 members of official delegations to be present in Kyiv on June 23-26 to greet the pope. The city is preparing places to stay for visitors, including hotels and dormitories, as well as a few sports stadiums where pilgrims will be able to camp out under the stars.

Upon his arrival, the pontiff will be greeted by President Leonid Kuchma, as well as Ukrainian scholars and businessmen. The pope will say two masses in Kyiv, one in the Latin Rite and one in the Greek-Catholic rite.

Ukrainian Greek-Catholic liturgies in Kyiv and Lviv will be said in Ukrainian, instead of Church Slavonic, and the pope is expected to give his homily in Ukrainian as well. The choir that will sing the liturgy will consist of about 200 members of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic churches from Ternopil, Buchach and Ivano-Frankivsk.

The city of Lviv, which serves as the seat of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), is expecting around 2 million pilgrims for the papal visit on June 25-27. The UGCC has reported that the Ukrainian government has allocated $1.4 million for the event - of which $800,000 will be put into repairing the complex of St. George Cathedral, where the pope will be staying.

The city is also organizing clean-up campaigns. Areas targeted for renovations include the Culture Park, where the pope will meet with religious leaders, and the summer theater.

The Catechetical Commission of the head of the UGCC is sponsoring the contest "Songs of Heart" for Ukrainian youth, giving the winners the opportunity to sing in a June 26 concert on the occasion of the papal visit to Lviv. Young people age 6-19 were eligible to enter.

Among other performers at the concert will be the youth choir Cheremosh, the bandura choir Halychyna, the children's choir, Pysanka, the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, the boys' choir Dudaryk, singers Pavlo Dvorskyi, Oksana Bilozir, Vasyl Zinkevych and Taras Petrynenko, as well as the groups Plach Yeremiyi, Scriabin and Okean Elzy.

Questions of housing and medical assistance for all of the guests are still being decided, and Lviv organizers are strongly relying on their Polish colleagues for logistics advice in organizing this papal visit, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church reported.

The city of Lviv is also planning to present the pope with a gift of a 16th century Byzantine-style icon of the Mother of God. The Press Office of the UGCC reports that, like the Church, the icon has been through difficult times of oppression but lives on. The Rev. Sevastiyan Dmytruk stated: "Let us be aware that in giving this wonderful work to the Universal Church in the person of the holy father, John Paul II, we are presenting the spiritual world of Ukraine to the whole world."

While in Lviv, visitors are also encouraged to stop by the Museum of the Underground Church. The Oral History Project of the Institute of Church History has interviewed and collected materials from over 1,000 survivors of the underground Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. Photographs and other materials are on exhibit at the Lviv Theological Academy.

Tentative Schedule of Pope John Paul II

Saturday, June 23 (Kyiv)

12:30 p.m. The pope arrives in Kyiv, Boryspil Airport; the president of Ukraine and the diplomatic corps greet the pope.
Meeting with representatives of culture, education and politics at the Mariyinsky Palace.

Sunday, June 24 (Kyiv)

Divine liturgy.
Meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.

Monday, June 25 (Kyiv, Lviv)

Divine liturgy.
Pope leaves Kyiv.
Arrival in Lviv.
Meeting with clergy, religious, seminarians and catechists.

Tuesday, June 26 (Lviv)

Divine liturgy and beatifications at the Hippodrome.
Meeting with youth.

Wednesday, June 27 (Lviv)

Divine Liturgy and beatifications at the Hippodrome.

For more information or the latest headlines about the papal visit, log on to www.papalvisit.org.ua.

Tours for the papal visit

Several Ukrainian-owned travel agencies in the United States are featuring tours to Ukraine for the papal visit. Most tours include airfare and accommodations in both cities where the pope will be staying. Below are three such agencies and their tour information.

Scope Travel Inc., 1605 Springfield Ave., Maplewood, NJ 07040; telephone, (973) 378-8998 or (800) 242-7267; fax, (973)378-7903.

Tour A, June 22-July 6: Departing Newark departure via Czech Airlines, the group will arrive in Kyiv the same day as the pope. This group of 100 persons will be staying in the Lybid Hotel on an all-inclusive program and will participate in the Byzantine papal liturgy on Monday morning. Their itinerary continues by overnight train to Lviv for arrival on June 26 and an eight-day stay at the Dnister Hotel. In Lviv the group will participate in the Byzantine papal liturgy and beatification of Ukrainian martyrs. On Sunday, June 31, an optional three day program is being offered which includes Zarvanytsia, Chernivtsi, Kolomyia and Yaremche. The group will leave Ukraine by a private charter to Budapest for a two-day stay before returning home to the United States. Cost: $2,106 twin per person.

Tour B, June 18-July 1: Tour includes group air transport via LOT Airlines from Newark to Lviv for a 14-day package. In Ukraine participants of this air transport will be staying with family/friends, except for the three days (June 25-28) of the papal visit, when Dnister Hotel rooms have been reserved. Visa cost/handling charges are included in a twin rate of $1,200.

Diaspora Enterprises Inc., 1914 Pine St., Philadelphia, PA 19103; telephone, (215) 732-3732 or (800) 487-5324; fax, (215)732-3735.

UNWLA Tour, June 11-26: The group will depart from JFK Airport on LOT Airlines and will arrive in Krakow the next day. Tour includes visits to Krynytsia, Peremyshl and Truskavets on June 14-20. From there, the tour will go to Lviv for two days, departing on June 22 to Kyiv on an overnight train. The group will spend June 23-26 in Ukraine's capital and will participate in papal celebrations. The tour departs Kyiv on June 26 and arrives at Newark Airport. Cost: $2,545 double occupancy.

Dunwoodie Travel Bureau Ltd., 771-A Yonkers Ave., Yonkers, NY, 10704; telephone, (914) 969-4200 or (800) 550-4334; fax, (914) 969-2108.

Tour 1, June 20-30: This tour will visit Lyiv, Lviv and Warsaw. Package includes round-trip airfare from JFK on Czech Air, all ground transportation, first-class-hotels, sightseeing in Kyiv, including St. Sophia, Zoloti Vorota and a cocktail cruise on the Dnipro River. Also included is an excursion to Zarvanytsia and entrance fees to celebrations of liturgies with Pope John Paul II. Cost: $1,875 per person.
Tour 2, June 12-30: This tour includes a 10-day cruise on the Dnipro River to exciting ports, including Sevastopol, Yalta, Kherson and Zaporizhia. Also featured are a Kozak Horse Show and Kozak Glory Museum tour. Package includes airfare from JFK on Austrian Airlines, all ground transportation, most meals, sightseeing in Kyiv (same as above). Cost: $2,950 per person.
Tour 3, June 10-30: This tour includes Ukraine and cities in Central Europe. The group will fly out of JFK on Czech Airlines on a fully escorted tour of Munich, Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Salzburg. It will continue by air to Kyiv, where the tour will be the same as Tour 1 (above). Cost: $2,625 per person (Sold out).

Papal visit's logo

On April 25, Cardinals Lubomyr Husar and Marian Jaworski of Lviv selected an official logo for the papal visit to Ukraine. The designers of this logo are Andrii Hrechyla and Vitold Yermolovych.

Among the key elements in the logo are Pope John Paul II's emblem and a map of Ukraine. On the pope's emblem are depicted a set of keys, symbolizing papal authority. This symbol has its roots in the New Testament when Jesus gave the Apostle Peter the "keys to the Heavenly Kingdom," giving him full authority.

The letter "M" depicted on the papal emblem stands for the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This particular symbol has been with the pope since 1959, the year that Karol Wojtyla became a bishop in Krakow, and has followed him to the papacy. The emblem is crowed by the papal tiara, which is the main attire of Roman bishops.

The motto of the papal visit - "Christ: The Way, Truth and Life" - is circumscribed around the emblem. The words are taken from the Bible (John 14:6).

A Ukrainian Summer (main page)

| Home Page |