Reconstructed historic cathedral is blessed (06/04/00)

Reconstructed historic cathedral is blessed

Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - After nearly four years of reconstruction, the grand Golden-Domed Cathedral of St. Michael (Mykhailivsky Sobor) officially opened on May 28 with a ceremonial blessing by Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate.

The church, once a religious center of the Orthodox world, was ordered razed by Stalin after it was looted by Communist Party cadres in 1936, part of the Soviet dictator's systemic destruction of religious sites throughout the Soviet Union.

The restoration of the sobor was ordered by an executive decree issued in 1996 by President Leonid Kuchma.

The ceremonial blessing took place as part of the annual Kyiv Days held on May 27-28. Thousands of onlookers waited patiently on Mykhailivsky Square, which connects Mykhailivsky Sobor with the equally historic St. Sophia Sobor via a promenade, while the ceremony took place. Afterwards they were allowed into the new church to view its dazzling interior, which includes new and historic mosaics and icons.

President Kuchma, Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ivan Pliushch were on hand for the ceremony and presented Patriarch Filaret with an icon, courtesy of the government.

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