Celebrations to mark the 15th anniversary of the Bishops’ Council of Khakov held in Kiev
5.06.2007 · Архив 2005-2009, События
The celebrations to mark the 15th anniversary of the Bishops’ Council of Kharkov, which elected Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine as primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, were held from June 1 to 3, 2007 in Kiev.
The celebration opened with a reflection-action conference on the Ecclesiastical and Historical significance of the Bishops’ Council of Kharkov. G. Popov, acting chairman of the Ukrainian Committee for nationalities and religions, as a key-speaker, brought a message of greetings from Ukrainian Prime Minister V. Yanukovich. He stated in his address that the 1992 Bishops’ Council of Kharkov “initiated a large-scale work of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” by setting forth the fundamental principles “of the interpretation of the national and ecclesiastical history”. He also cited statistics pointing to the fruitful development of the Ukrainian Church’s mission after the Council of Kharkov.
Archbishop Constantine of Tikhvin, rector of St. Petersburg Theological Academy, said in his address that “the Bishops’ Council of Kharkov declared faithfulness to the unified Orthodoxy in the Slavic lands’.
On the same day, a conference on Service of the Logos was held at the Vernadsky National Library. It is also devoted to the anniversary of the council. The speakers focused on the contribution made by His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir to the development of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Archbishop Constantine, in particular, spoke on the feat performed by the metropolitan in that he managed to preserve the canonical unity of the Church. The same achievement of the metropolitan was reiterated by Academician P. Tolochko, who draw a historical parallel between the time of Prince Vladimir, the Baptizer of Russia, and the time of Metropolitan Vladimir, who succeeded in preserving the canonical unity of the Church.
In the evening, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine blessed the new monument to St. Peter Moghila the Metropolitan of Kiev, erected recently near the Kiev Theological Academy.
The second day of the celebrations, June 2, began with opening an exhibition called “From Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles to His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir”, at the Cathedral of the Dormition at the Kiev Monastery of the Caves. The exposition includes mostly rare editions and photographs, personal belonging of the Metropolitans of Kiev from the collection of the present primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Among the speakers at the inauguration were Ukrainian Minister of Culture Yu. Bogutsky, poet Boris Oleinik and Academician P. Tolochko. They pointed to the creative role played by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its primate in the life of Ukrainian society today. Mr. Tolochko said in particular that “at a time when moral principles have dropped to the ground level, there are people in the country who support the spiritual temple on their own shoulders. Among them is certainly His Beatitude Vladimir. I know him as an ascetic”. The Metropolitan Vladimir, in his speech, pointed out how important it was to “make an in-depth assessment of the past and present developments… and to breath the air of the times past in the times present to make them more meaningful”.
Later that day, the clergy blessed the construction site for a Cathedral of the Resurrection to be built at a picturesque place near the Lybedskaya Metro Station. At present St. Sophia’s Cathedral, the oldest church in Kiev, is used as a museum, while St. Vladimir’s was captured in 1992 by the schismatics of the so-called Kievan Patriarchate. The church compound will also include a new residence for the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and other buildings. The rite of blessing was led by Metropolitan Vladimir in the presence of bishops and clergy from many Local Orthodox Churches. In his speech, Metropolitan Vladimir said that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church did not have a cathedral of its own in Kiev and thanked the city authorities for allocating a plot of land for the construction. President Victor Yuschenko, who spoke after Prime Minister Yanukovich and other prominent leaders, said it was a great honour for him to take part in the laying of the foundation stone, since “it is a significant event in the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” and assured Metropolitan Vladimir that the state leaders would also make their contribution to the building of the cathedral.
During the grand reception that took place in the evening, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who led the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church and brought greeting from His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia said that “the Council of Kharkov by its providential decision made a beginning of a new era in history on the holy Kievan land”. The Council took place at a time of social confrontations and struggle when there was a real threat of schism in the Church, but the development in Kharkov at that time showed clearly “that the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. The Lord Himself governs His heritage beyond our wisdoms or weaknesses or mistakes”. The decisions of the Council of Kharkov appeared especially providential, metropolitan Kirill said, when the participants saw Metropolitan Vladimir standing between President Yuschenko and Prime Minister Yanukovich “as an embodiment of a millennium-long tradition of the reconciling mission of the Church”.
The celebrations were crowned with the Divine Liturgy conducted in the open by Metropolitan Vladimir, Metropolitan Christopher of the Czeck Lands and Slovakia and an assembly of bishops and clergy from Ukraine, Russia and other countries in the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate. Among the guest who came for the celebrations were also representatives of the Orthodox Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, and America. Hymns were sung in Church Slavonic, Greek, Arabic, Georgian, Romanian and English.