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"This year, Christmas festivities in Ukraine are marred by a deep social
crisis. Forlorn hopes, heinous conflicts and disturbing anticipations
discourage and depress the Ukrainian people. Millions of Ukrainians abandon
their native land, because they can see no bright prospects for their future
at home. General apathy governs among those who stay," reads the statement
of Archbishop Ihor
Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU)
Lviv, Ukraine
December 26, 2002
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LVIV, UKRAINE, Dec 26, 02 (RISU.org.ua) - Hierarchs of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP), the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Church (UGCC) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC)
have released their Christmas addresses for 2002-3 to the faithful. Excerpts
from their statements follow:
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Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of the UOC-MP called Christmas "the
beginning of a new communication between God and human beings. Every
person should create a spiritual world in his heart and soul," he said. "But
in our secularized world the Old Testament law 'an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth' remains valid."
According to Metropolitan Volodymyr, the Christian calling is to break the
fetters of sin. "Celebrating Christmas, we should be filled with the peace
of Jesus Christ. If love governs our hearts, the peace of Jesus Christ will
govern our families, society and the whole world. We should explain this to
our children and youth," reads the statement of the UOC-MP metropolitan.
"Today, we are looking into the future with hope and praying to God that He
helps us to solve problems the church is currently confronted with. We are
looking forward to a new law on Freedom of Conscience that would account for
believers' interests, the implementation of the presidential decree on the
restitution of property which was illegally confiscated from the church, and
finally, the introduction of religious instruction in secondary schools and
the establishment of pastoral activities in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The
strengthening of the moral and spiritual climate in our society depends on
the timely solution of these problems," reads the statement of Metropolitan
Volodymyr.
Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko) of the UOC-KP stated that Christmas is not
only a folklore tradition, connected with carols or merely a historical
event. According to him, it is an event of tremendous importance.
In his Christmas address, Patriarch Filaret stressed the significance of the
spiritual birth of a person in the holy sacrament of baptism, and for
baptism one needs faith.
"The lack of faith in God leads people to stop trusting each other, both in
their families and in society. Hence there are various divisions and
confrontations. . As a result of mistrust and egoism, numerous instances of
social and economic evil begin to manifest themselves, from which the
Ukrainian people and state suffer. Peace and accord haven't been achieved
even between churches. Instead of living in Christian love, quite a few
Christians sow the seeds of hatred and feud. Because of this, for ten years
now we have failed to establish a single national Orthodox Church in
Ukraine. There are many reasons for the instability and various other
problems in our country, but the major ones are the lack of spirituality and
neglected democracy," reads the statement of Patriarch Filaret.
According to him, Jesus Christ was born to eradicate all evil and sin from
the human soul.
Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of the UGCC emphasized that everything the Lord does
has one single basis and reason: love. "The Christmas season should become
an opportunity for us to understand this truth and to make the conclusion
that all our thoughts, decisions, actions, beginning from the conception of a new life, the birth and upbringing of a child, and concluding in various
events of our adult life, all this should have the very same basis. In all
spheres of human activity, education, culture, politics, economics, love,
the desire for the good of our neighbor should become the dominant element.
People who turn their gaze only on earthly goods and focus on their own
comfort laugh at such thoughts. They consider them childish, immature,
unrealistic. This is why such petty concerns rule in our world," reads the
statement of Cardinal Husar.
In addition, the Greek Catholic cardinal also mentioned another important
period that begins with this holy feast: the Year of the Family, announced
by our Church and the international organization UNESCO.
"The theme of family life has been relevant from the beginning of the
existence of the human race, and in our time it needs particular attention.
The Intereparchial Commission on Family Issues has prepared a great program,
a part of which will be conducted this year. Other points of the plan will
be continued in future years. The goal of this program is to deepen our
awareness of the holiness and majesty of family life, to support everything
that is good and healthy, and to help overcome whatever harms normal family
relations. It is important that these activities, in particular the
appropriate preparation for married life, care for young families, and the
teaching about the Christian family, become part of the life of our Church
and our people for many years to come," reads the statement of Cardinal
Husar.
Archbishop Ihor Isichenko of Kharkiv and Poltava of the UAOC pointed out
that only when people discover the presence of Jesus in their lives, full of
misery and sorrow, can they understand the three wise men who noticed the
light from the Bethlehem star amidst the gloom of night.
"This year, Christmas festivities in Ukraine are marred by a deep social
crisis. Forlorn hopes, heinous conflicts and disturbing anticipations
discourage and depress the Ukrainian people. Millions of Ukrainians abandon
their native land, because they can see no bright prospects for their future
at home. General apathy governs among those who stay," reads the statement
of Archbishop Ihor.
"So let us prepare our souls for the advent of Jesus Christ! Having endured
the disgrace of servile dependence on human power, let us pray for the gift
of freedom. Having experienced the grave consequences of a weak spirit and
apathy, let us prepare ourselves to serve Jesus Christ all around the world
through the implementation of the evangelical ideal in our daily lives. Let
us protect the purity of Christ's church from the dirtiness of human
drawbacks, as well as from the takeover by cynical criminals. Let us prepare
to follow our savior bravely to the promised kingdom of God, where
evangelical love will govern," reads the statement of Archbishop Isichenko.
Sources: www.orthodox.org.ua, www.uaorthodox.org, www.ugcc.org.ua,
press service of the UAOC;
http://www.risu.org.ua/article.php?sid=614&offsets=&l=en
The items contained in the Religious Information Service of Ukraine
may be used, in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source.
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