The Religious Information Service of Ukraine website reports today (September 15, 2011) that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia -- while on a visit to Ukraine this week -- said Ukraine's prosperity hinges on its return to its "Kyivan Rus" spiritual roots.
"For Ukraine to be strong, it should consolidate around the principal values on which the life of the entire Holy Rus was based, including today's Ukraine -- from St. Vladimir's Christianization to the present day," Patriarch Kirill said, following a liturgy service he conducted on Theater Square in Luhansk, Ukraine.
It is important for the "Church to overcome the separation, so that the Orthodox Ukrainian people gather again around one chalice," he said.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union -- resulting in Ukraine's independence in 1991 -- many Orthodox Ukrainians became members of the newly-established Kiev Patriarchate, in order to be independent of the Ukrainian Moscow Patriarchate. Patriarch Kirill has on several occasions tried to convince all Orthodox Ukrainians to unite in the Moscow Patriarchate -- thus eliminating the Kiev Patriarchate -- but his efforts have been adamantly rejected.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment