Local Orthodox Churches Celebrate the Baptism of Rus' in Kiev

This past Saturday Patriarch Cyril (Gundyayev) of Moscow led the celebrations in honor of the feast of St. Vladimir and the anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' at Ukraine's historic Kiev Caves Lavra, concelebrating the festal Divine Liturgy in the square fronting the Lavra's Cathedral of the Dormition with Metropolitans Volodymyr (Sabodan) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Vladimir (Canterean) of the Moldovan Orthodox Church; hierarchs representing the Constantinopolitan, Alexandrian, Antiochian, Jerusalemite, Georgian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Cypriot, Greek, Polish, Czechoslovak, and American Orthodox Churches; and numerous hierarchs of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian Orthodox Churches. Following the services Patriarch Cyril congratulated Metropolitan Volodymyr on the 20th anniversary of his service as primate of the Church of Ukraine. More here and in Russian here.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Begins Visit to Kiev

Patriarch Cyril (Gundyayev) of Moscow has begun a pastoral visit to the autonomous Church of Ukraine, flying into the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, earlier today and meeting with Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Y. Azarov at the Kiev Caves Lavra shortly after his arrival in the city.

Patriarch Cyril is opening a session of the Russian Orthodox Holy Synod at the Kiev Caves Lavra today, and on Saturday will lead the celebrations of the feast of St. Vladimir and the Baptism of Rus'. More here.

St. Igor of Kiev

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we commemorate the Holy Great Prince Igor of Kiev. St. Igor came to lead Rus' during a time of great internal division within its royal family, and only served briefly as great prince before his overthrow and banishment to a monastery. The Saint embraced the monastic life and was eventually tonsured to the great schema.

After a short time in the monastery a mob of his family's opponents sought St. Igor out, dragging him out of the monastery church during the Divine Liturgy and murdered him. When the Saint's body was later recovered and taken to St. Michael's Monastery the candles near it lit of their own accord. The Saint was buried at another monastery on the outskirts of Kiev.

In 1150 St. Igor's relics were translated to the city cathedral of Chernigov, whilst the wonderworking Igorov Icon before which he had been praying prior to his martyrdom was enshrined in the catholicon of the Kiev Caves Lavra. More on his life can be found here. May St. Igor's blessing and prayers be with us all!

Patriarch Philaret Leads Babyn Yar Memorial

Patriarch Philaret (Denysenko) of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church has led a memorial commemorating the victims of the Nazi mass executions at Babyn Yar. The memorial was organized at Babyn Yar for the 70th anniversary of the executions this past Wednesday. After the memorial Patriarch Philaret called for the establishment of a chapel on the site of a memorial to Ukrainian nationalists killed by the Nazis. More (in Ukrainian) here.

The Soviet and Holocaust memorials at Babyn Yar are truly haunting. The district was farmland at the time of the Nazis' massacres and it's said that after the war had ended Kiev's residents refused to buy produce from its fields out of respect for the tens of thousands murdered and buried there.

International Celebrations for the Anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' Held in Kiev

In celebration of the anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' in 988 and in honor of today's feast of St. Vladimir Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) of Moscow, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) of Mtskheta-Tbilisi, and Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev together with the participation of Metropolitans Vladimir (Canterean) of Chisinau and Philaret (Vakhromeyev) of Minsk and hierarchs of the Russian, Georgian, Romanian, Cypriot, Ukrainian, and Belorussian Orthodox Churches concelebrated the festal Divine Liturgy on the square of the Kiev Caves Lavra's Cathedral of the Dormition.

The services were celebrated in a mixture of Georgian, Greek, and Slavonic, with choirs from Georgia and Ukraine singing the responses. Today's celebrations marked the first time that a ruling patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church has visited and served in Kiev. More (in Russian) on today's celebrations can be found here.

Russian Orthodox Holy Synod Meets in Kiev to Create Dioceses, Elect Bishops

Following the arrival of Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) of Moscow yesterday in Kiev a session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was convened at the Kiev Caves Lavra under his chairmanship. Participating in the meeting were Metropolitans Volodymyr (Sabodan) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Vladimir (Kotlyarov) of St. Petersburg, Philaret (Vakhromeyev) of the Belorussian Orthodox Church, Yuvenaliy (Poyarkov) of Krutitsa, Vladimir (Canterean) of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, Ioannikiy (Kobzyev) of Luhansk, and Varsonofiy (Sudakov) of Saransk; Archbishops Feofan (Galinskiy) of Berlin, Manuil (Pavlov) of Petrozavodsk, Iona (Karpukhin) of Astrakhan, and Rostislav (Dyevyatov) of Tomsk.

During its session the Holy Synod reviewed the recent pastoral travels of Patriarch Kirill as well as the decisions of the Jubilee Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It also established a metropolitanate for the Orthodox Church in Central Asia, uniting within its care the existing Eparchy of Tashkent, the newly erected Eparchies of Bishkek and Dushanbe erected during the same session, and the patriarchal deanery of Turkmenistan. Archbishop Vikentiy (Morar') of Yekaterinburg was then elected Metropolitan of Tashkent and Central Asia.

New dioceses were established in the Russian Far East, the Urals, and southern Russia. In Primorye the Eparchies of Nakhodka and Arsen'ev were created out of the Eparchy of Vladivostok, with Igumen Nikolai (Dutki) being elected Bishop of Nakhodka. (Archbishop Venyamin of Vladivostok was designated locum tenens of the Eparchy of Arsen'ev for the time being.) In the Urals the Eparchies of Kamensk and Nizhniy Tagil were erected on the territory of the Eparchy of Yekaterinburg, with Archimandrite Innokentiy (Yakovlev) and Igumen Serafim (Kuzminov) being elected as Bishops of Nizhniy Tagil and Kamensk respectively. And lastly, in southern Russia the Eparchies of Shakhty and Volgodonsk were created out of the Eparchy of Rostov-na-Donu, with Archimandrite Korniliy (Sinnyayev) and Igumen Ignatiy (Deputatov) being elected Bishops of Volgodonsk and Shakhty respectively.

The Holy Synod also accepted the retirement of Metropolitan Feodosiy of Omsk and elected Metropolitan Vladimir (Ichim) of Tashkent as Metropolitan of Omsk, Archbishop Cyril of Yaroslavl as Archbishop of Yekaterinburg, Archbishop Panteleimon of Rostov as Archbishop of Yaroslavl, and patriarchal auxiliary Bishop Mercurius of Zaraisk as Bishop of Rostov. Responding to requests from Metropolitan Sergey of Voronezh and Archbishops Viktor of Tver and Nikon of Uga, the Holy Synod elected Archimandrites Andrei (Tarasov), Adrian (Ulyanov) and Nikolai (Subbotin) as Bishops of Ostrog, Bezhetsk, and Birsk to serve as auxiliaries of the Eparchies of Voronezh, Tver, and Ufa respectively.

More (in Russian) on the Holy Synod's meeting today and the decisions it took can be found here and here.

Plans for the Restoration of Kiev's Church of the Tithe Approved

The proposed plans for the restoration of Kiev's Church of the Tithe suggested by the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been approved by the city government of Kiev. More here.

Armenians to Build New Church in Kiev

Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych has committed to helping the Armenian Orthodox Diocese of Kiev build a new church in the Ukrainian capital. Although 40,000 Armenians live in Kiev there is at present only one chapel in use by the Armenian Orthodox Church in the country and it accommodates under 20 people. Efforts were made to build a larger church during the presidency of Viktor A. Yushchenko, but the authorities refused to authorize the construction plans. More here.

Bulgakov Conference this May

A conference on the life and legacy of Protopresbyter Sergius Bulgakov dedicated to the 140th anniversary of his birth will be held in Kiev, Ukraine, this coming May. More here.

Bishop Panteleimon Serves Memorial in Kiev for Liberators of Bulgaria

During yesterday's celebrations on the eve of Bulgarian Independence Day, Bishop Panteleimon of Vasylkiv, auxiliary to Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev, participated in commemorative events at Kiev's memorial cross for the imperial Russian soldiers who gave their lives for the liberation of Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War. As part of the events Bishop Panteleimon served a memorial for the fallen soldiers. More here.

Ukrainian Catholics to Nominate New Primate in March

A meeting of the full Ukrainian Catholic Holy Synod has been scheduled for this March to nominate a new Major Archbishop of Kiev and Galicia and primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church for appointment by the Pope of Rome. The new primate is to be enthroned in the newly built national cathedral in Kiev. More here.

Opening of New Kievan Cathedral to be Held April 2011

A meeting of the committee supervising the construction of the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection in Kiev has been held in the city. The completion of the cathedral is to be crowned by the celebration of the Paschal Divine Liturgy by Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev this coming April. More here.

Ukrainian Orthodox Local Synod Meets

The Local Synod of the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has met in Kiev to discuss the life of the Church in the Ukraine and plans for a visit by Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) of Moscow to Kharkov. More here.

Kiev's Church of the Tithe Not To Be Rebuilt

The Ukrainian government has decided to build a museum over the foundations of the ancient Church of the Tithe in Kiev instead of restoring the church as it had previously indicated it would. There is already a small church next to the site that was meant to serve in place of the Church of the Tithe until it could be rebuilt. More here.

Hierarchical Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile

I don't know how I missed this last month, but the remnants of the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile, formed out of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) following retired Metropolitan Vitaly's departure from New York for Quebec, held a council of their remaining hierarchs in Kiev. Among other things they elected two new diocesan bishops for Western Europe and southern Russia and also decided to undertake a survey of the positions of the various Russian Orthodox schisms formed out of the ROCOR over the last couple of decades.

I had thought that the ROCIE completely fell apart following the death of Metropolitan Vitaly, so to find it not only alive, but with a functioning and apparently stable synod of bishops, is truly a surprise! God works in mysterious ways :-). Speaking of which, the ROCIE claims to have a myrrh-streaming icon at its parish in Montreal, Quebec - a copy of the Reigning Icon of the Mother of God. The icon's story can be found here. A full account of the hierarchical council can be found here. And lastly, the hierarchs' epistle to their flock can be found here.