Husar blesses cornerstone for patriarchal sobor in Kyiv (11/03/02)

Husar blesses cornerstone for patriarchal sobor in Kyiv

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - On a blustery, Sunday autumn afternoon, with more than 300 faithful in attendance at the future site of the religious center of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar marked the beginning of construction of the UGCC patriarchal sobor as he blessed the building's cornerstone.

Nearly a dozen UGCC bishops and priests joined Cardinal Husar, in the ceremony, which included encasing a commemorative plaque within the cornerstone as a time capsule. The text engraved on the black marble slab documented for posterity the date that construction on the patriarchal sobor began, and identified the religious leaders of both the ecumenical Catholic Church and the UGCC, as well as the political leaders of both Ukraine and Kyiv, the architect and the builder.

The UGCC primate thanked city officials who gave the land for the cathedral site and the many faithful who have staunchly supported the project during short remarks at the site. Bishop Vasylyi Medvit of the Kyiv-Vyshhorod Eparchy said it was a historical moment for the UGCC.

"This church, this building is being built for the ages," explained Bishop Vasylyi, who added a moment later that, "when that day finally arrives when our various Churches are united into one all-Ukrainian Church, this house of worship will then belong to it."

The cathedral, which should be the largest in Kyiv when completed and able to hold more than 1,000 people, will be located just off the Dnipro River on a two-hectare stretch of city land that sits along Ukraine's main waterway. It will stand almost directly opposite Ukraine's holiest religious shrine, the Monastery of the Caves (Pecherska Lavra).

Construction of the church is the first phase of a plan that will eventually turn the site into the UGCC's new home and administrative headquarters. The initial stage also includes the building of the patriarchal residence and administrative office. Eventually a religious/cultural center and a school are envisioned for the complex on another two-hectare plot that the city has given UGCC officials an option to take.

Today, however, the territory is dominated by towering, dinosaur-like construction machinery and the bareness of the cleared territory. That will quickly change as work begins. The completion date is autumn 2004.

The decision to go with a location on the left bank of Kyiv, which was proposed by Kyiv city officials, did not come without controversy. Initially, the UGCC had hoped it would receive a sizable plot of land in the city center, located on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River. City officials, however, insisted that the left bank site would not only allow the UGCC to receive more land, but it would finally put a church on the other bank of the Dnipro. Eventually church leaders saw the benefits of the site and the symbolism of a location across from the Monastery of the Caves, and relented.

"It is a beautiful location on the left bank of Ukraine, which is symbolic because it is the left bank of this country that most particularly needs a new announcement of the Gospel," said the Rev. Dr. Borys Gudziak, rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, after the ceremony.

The several hundred faithful who were present at the blessing ceremony agreed, for the most part. Many noted the striking symbolism expressed by the sobor's location across from the Monastery of the Caves, a complex of caves and churches located on a hill on the right bank of the Dnipro River, which has been the spiritual center of the Rus'-Ukraine since the 11th century. Today the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate controls that complex.

"It is a beautiful location - on the banks of the river that extends to the Monastery of the Caves - which expresses our desire for unity," explained Iryna Kulchynska of Lviv.

Meanwhile, Mykhailyna Melnyk of Kyiv said that she most liked the bucolic setting. "It is nice, very calm. God's blessing will come unto this place," she said.

Not all were pleased however. While young Mykhailo Chyrylo, 17, said "it would have been better if it had been located closer to the center," 76-year-old Vasyl Smerechanskyi bluntly stated, "It isn't such a great place."

"If it was the Moscow Patriarchate requesting a site, they would have received something right in the city center," commented Mr. Smerechanskyi.

The Moscow Patriarchate, when contacted by The Weekly for its stand on the construction of the cathedral, expressed reservations about a UGCC religious complex in Kyiv.

"Who needs a giant sobor that holds 5,000 people?" queried UOC-MP spokesman the Rev. Heorhii Kovalenko. "But it is clear from this that the Greek-Catholic Church has placed before itself the aim of filling the church with those christened in the Orthodox faith. In Church language, this is called proselytization."

The representative also noted that the UOC-MP has made little headway for its own episcopal center in Lviv.

Representatives of the other two Orthodox Churches, however, were more accommodating regarding a UGCC patriarchal center in Kyiv.

The Rev. Valerii Kopiika, head of the patriarchal chancery of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church said he did not believe the construction of a UGCC cathedral affected the UAOC.

"It does not interfere with our spiritual life," explained the Rev. Kopiika.

The Rev. Borys Tabachyk, administrative director of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, agreed that the building of a UGCC patriarchal center in Kyiv was basically an internal matter for that Church. Yet he went further and even proposed that it should be viewed as a positive event for Ukraine.

"They have the right to have their own church in which they can pray to the Lord," explained the Rev. Tabachyk. "And we have hope that the building of this church will stimulate cooperation between our Churches for the good of Ukraine and its spiritual development."

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