risu.org.ua - On November 23 at the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Rome, bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 1932-1933 Holodomor at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and Requiem for the victims of this great tragedy, which will be celebrated by Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the UGCC.
After the service, candles will be lit – in doing so, the UGCC bishops and laity will join the campaign “Light a Candle of Memory,” during which millions of Ukrainians in the world will light candles in the windows of their homes as a sign of remembrance of the victims of the Holodomor. The head of Ukrainian Church urges all Ukrainians to join this event: “I want the national campaign ‘Light a Candle’ to reach all Ukrainian homes and families, for this day we must be united. The flame of memory must heal our consciences so that we can prevent such tribulations from occurring in the future,” the radio station Voskresinnia reports.
“The memory of the tragedy of the Ukrainian people is necessary. We cannot forget, let alone deny the tragedy of such a large scale. However, we must also look to the future, because today, millions of people of the same land are forced to emigrate in search of food to support their families,” said Bishop Dionysius Liakhovich, Apostolic Visitor for Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Italy and Spain.
On the eve of Holodomor Remember Day, November 21, at the City Council of Rome, an international conference “The Holodomor: 80 Years of Memory of the Ukrainian Genocide” will be held. The conference will bring together leading historians of Ukraine and Italy.
On November 24, a memorial service will begin at 6:00 p.m. on the Republic Square – one of the central squares of Rome. It will be followed by a requiem in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs, the Information Department of the UGCC informs.