An Ecumenical Gathering Took Place at Saint Sophia Cathedral on Ukraine’s Independence Day

On the occasion of Ukraine’s Independence Day, a prayer for Ukraine was held at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. In addition to President Volodymyr Zelensky, representatives of various religious denominations in Ukraine and several international organizations participated in the ecumenical event. This was reported on the website of the President’s Office.

“The prayers were delivered by the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Epiphanius, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav, the Supreme Mufti of Ukraine Sheikh Ahmed Tamim, the head of the Kyiv-Zhytomyr Eparchy of the Roman Catholic Church Vitaliy Kryvytsky, the head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists Valeriy Antonyuk, the Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Church of Evangelical Christian Faith Anatoliy Kozachok, and the Deputy General Secretary of the Ukrainian Bible Society Anatoliy Raychynets,” the website reported.

Representatives of foreign religious organizations also took part in the event, including American evangelical pastor of the Faith Center “Harvest” Mark Burns and Executive Director of the organization “Samaritan Bag” Edward Grem.

Earlier reports noted that in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, on the day of the celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the new calendar, a “service” was held with the participation of former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the head of the OCU Epiphaniy Dumenko. According to correspondent observations, few people were present in the cathedral, and the church remained half-empty. Nevertheless, Poroshenko published photographs from the event, creating the impression that his visit was the main event at the Lavra.