Ukraine's east and west celebrate Christmas together (02/27/05)

Ukraine's east and west celebrate Christmas together

Religious Information Service of Ukraine

LVIV - "Christmas Together," an all-Ukrainian event supported by thousands of inhabitants of Ukraine's western regions concerned about attempts to artificially split the country, was held on January 6 to 9. Lviv and other far western regions of Ukraine were the main centers of the event, though the southern region of Mykolaiv also participated.

Lviv hosted over 2,000 people in the course of the event, which was organized following an initiative by the Lviv Council of Rectors of Higher Educational Establishments. Some 500 high school and university students from Kharkiv alone celebrated Christmas in Lviv.

The young people who arrived from eastern Ukraine experienced more than just celebrating Christmas Eve with local families. They were also presented with an interesting program by the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). The guests took part in religious services, saw vertepy (traditional Ukrainian Christmas pageants), and visited museums.

The UCU's students and professors organized presentations of the university's various programs and projects. The organizers of "Christmas Together" said they believe that celebrating together is the best implementation of the slogan that emerged on Kyiv's Independence Square during the Orange Revolution: "East and West are together!"

"This event unites us strongly," said Ira Kulchytska, one of the organizers of the event. "I am certain that this year our common Christmas Eve supper will help the students from the east to comprehend the spiritual majesty of Christmas, and to get to know the Christmas customs and traditions still preserved in our parts."

The members of a dance ensemble from Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region also came to Lviv. Halyna Burlak, a member of the ensemble, said Christmas 2005 was special: "We have seen a lovely Christmas Eve, a wonderful vertep. We visited the Ukrainian Catholic University, our hosts. It is amazing that the traditions are preserved. In Kryvyi Rih today we don't have such beautiful holidays any more. We have learned Christmas carols. Now we know what a vertep is, how to celebrate Christmas." According to Ms. Burlak, the people of Ukraine have experienced the country's unity thanks to the event.

Several young Crimean Tatars also came to Lviv. "For us Muslims, Isa [Jesus] is a prophet, a holy man, so we too honor his birth," said Elzara Abduramanova, a staff member of the Crimea Development and Integration Program. "Apart from that, it promotes our unity with the people of Ukraine," she added.

Much was done by the activists of the Organization of Ukrainian Patriots to greet guests from Ukraine's eastern and southern regions in Lviv. The organization is headed by Hanna Semeniuk, who explained that the reconciliation of the west and the east is something extraordinary. It is a continuation of the spirit of the maidan. This spirit will spread over all of Ukraine. Separatist claims have no ground, for the people are one in grief and in feasting."

A common celebration of Christmas was organized in Mykolaiv, following an initiative of the Union of Protestant Churches. Vertep performances by various Christian churches were organized in the city's shipbuilders' palace, and everyone prayed for Ukraine.

A ceremonial Christmas inter-Church roundtable took place on January 8 in Mykolaiv's Vereshchagin Art Museum, following an initiative by the regional organization of Rukh (the National Movement of Ukraine). In addition to Protestant pastors, priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church also participated.

Oleksander Malytskyi, assistant head of the Mykolaiv regional organization of Rukh, said he is convinced that this year's Christmas signals "a change of an era in Ukraine."

"A new era is arriving, not only of hope, but of achievement, an era of a new Ukraine that will be a leader in Europe. Enthusiasm and the desire to work for this new Ukraine have emerged in the people. This Christmas will start a new year and a new era for a new Ukraine," he commented.

| Home Page |