Faithful mark fifth anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit (07/02/06)

Faithful mark fifth anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Odesa isn't a hub of Catholicism, but native Nadiya Divnina, 25, said she's seen more worshippers at St. Peter's Church in recent years.

Discussion and study of religion has increased in Kyiv's schools and higher education institutions, said Yulia Venhrynovych, 21.

Five years after Pope John Paul II's visit to Ukraine, the nation's Catholics say they are beginning to reap the fruits of a spiritual revival.

"Positive changes are known to always occur after a papal visit," Ms. Divnina said. "Many were called to the Church."

To commemorate the historic visit, more than 2,000 Roman and Ukrainian Greek-Catholics celebrated liturgies in separate churches but joined together afterwards for a commemorative procession in central Kyiv that began and ended at St. Alexander's Roman Catholic Cathedral.

Among the worshippers were more than 200 faithful who had arrived from the Zhytomyr Oblast, which has one of Ukraine's largest Roman Catholic populations.

During the half-hour procession downtown, in which about 100 Ukrainian Catholics participated, the faithful sang Ukrainian hymns and held church banners, a portrait of Pope John Paul II, crosses, a monstrance and a symbolic crown.

Papal Nuncio Ivan Jurkovic, who conducted the mass, and Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh of the Kyiv-Vyshhorod Archeparchy led the half-hour procession as the faithful descended toward European Square, along the Khreschatyk, up Independence Square and back to St. Alexander's.

"Together, we wanted to demonstrate our mutuality, our unity and our gratitude to God that such a visit took place," said Father Ihor Yatsiv, spokesman for the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The mass at St. Alexander's was prayed entirely in Ukrainian, and most of the worshippers knew the Roman Catholic hymns.

Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk of Kyiv-Zhytomyr delivered his sermon on the passage from the book of Mark in which Jesus Christ was in a boat with his apostles when a windstorm caused their boat to sway.

The apostles became frightened and awakened a sleeping Jesus, asking him why He didn't care for their welfare. Jesus immediately ceased the storm and then asked his apostles why they feared and lacked faith.

"The world is a large dangerous sea where you can drown without faith in Jesus Christ," Father Shyrokoradiuk said. The apostles' reaction of resorting to fear instead of turning to Jesus, is similar to how Ukrainians ask God why their country has suffered so greatly instead of turning to God with faith, he said.

Young people avoid the Church more than they do sex, which has caused AIDS to become the leading cause of death among Ukrainians between the ages of 15 and 30, Father Shyrokoradiuk said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians remain fiercely divided along Christian confessions and denominations. The bishop urged Ukrainians to pursue ecumenism as a means to reconcile religious conflicts.

"Look at what John Paul II did to bring Christians together," he said, referring to his meetings with Orthodox and Protestant leaders in attempts to find mutual understanding.

Pope John Paul II was particularly important to Ukrainians because he came from an Eastern European background and witnessed firsthand the evils of communism, said Daria Kollias, who was visiting Ukraine from Philadelphia.

She was pleasantly surprised to hear Ukrainian Catholic songs sung during the procession, including "Khryste Vitai." "The procession was very dear and familiar, even though it was mostly Roman Catholic and I am Greek- Catholic," she commented.

The procession demonstrated that Pope John Paul II's spirit of reconciliation and understanding between different faiths lives on, said Yevhen Antoniuk, 18.

On June 23 the Ukrainian Catholic Church organized a meeting of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations at the National Philharmonic in Kyiv, where the book "Papa I Ukrayina" was released.

Orthodox priests from Crimea wrote the book and agreed to donate proceeds from its sale to an orphanage in Stryi in the Lviv Oblast in a demonstration of eastern-western Ukrainian peace and cooperation.

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