In Ternopil with a prayer honored the members of the underground UGCC
on March 13 at the Cathedral of Ternopil Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ternopil-Zborowski Vasyl (Semeniuk) celebrated the divine Liturgy in which he prayed for the clergy and laity of the UGCC, which in the days of the underground remained faithful to his Church and Ukraine. Actually these days the UGCC recalled one of the black pages of its history: 70 years ago (8-10 March 1946) in Lviv took place the so-called "Lviv Sobor" inspired by the Communist regime, which in nasilny method proclaimed the liquidation of the UGCC and attachment of its structure to the ROC MP. Then began the era of the underground UGCC, which lasted 43 years and joined the most persistent sons of the UGCC and the people who didn't want to cooperate with the godless Communist anti-Ukrainian regime and its collaborants. In the Holy Liturgy was attended by the Bishop of Ternopil-Zborowski Theodore (Martyniuk), the priests of the Ternopil – the members of the underground UGCC, the abbots and fathers from different parishes of the Ternopil, a large number of believers and representatives of local authorities. After the service at the monument of Patriarch Joseph the Blind held a funeral Memorial service, and then read the names of about 112 priests of the region, which were repressed and deported outside Ukraine. In his pastoral homily, Archbishop and Metropolitan Vasyl (Semeniuk), addressed the faithful with a message: "Thousands of Greek Catholics turning to illegal, clandestine status made a choice in favor of truth and remained loyal to the connection with the Universal Church of Christ, the Throne of the Apostle Peter and his successors, Roman Bishops, - said the Metropolitan. - Soviet authorities have arrested all the bishops, who unanimously refused to become on the path of betrayal, hundreds of priests and tens of thousands of believers and transferred ownership of the UGCC of the Russian Orthodox Church or confiscated. Thus began a period of repression and persecution in which the Church has become the world's largest persecuted Christian community. The Metropolitan called on everyone to honor "the enduring witness of faith, his bravery and loyalty to the truth has brought the resurrection of our Church. Their testimony stamina convinces us that evil can never triumph over good and lie over truth... Having a valuable experience of martyrdom and persecution, and Express our sincere solidarity SNM prisoners of conscience that suffer oppression and suffered imprisonment for the truth of his own beliefs, especially Ukrainian heroine Nadiya Savchenko". "Remember that freedom and truth have always paid a high price. Will we be worthy followers of our martyrs. Everything connected with the false, can never have anything to do with Christ and the light of his gospel," concluded the Bishop. According to the press service of the Archdiocese. This was reported in the Ternopil regional state administrationÏåðåâåäåíî ñåðâèñîì "ßíäåêñ.Ïåðåâîä÷èê": translate.yandex.ru.
Source: http://uzinform.com.ua/
