His Beatitude Lubomyr blessed project to build monument for migrants

Fundraising in the UGCC has begun for a monument dedicated to Ukrainian migrants in the Maria Spiritual Center in Zarvanytsya. The monument will be built on the benediction of the head of the UGCC His Beatitude Lubomyr in the following year. For the realization of the project the head of the UGCC blessed the creation of a special supervisory council, which includes Bishop Joseph (Milyan), Bishop Vasyl (Semenyuk), Fr. Vasyl Potochnyak, Mrs. Oksana Pronyuk, and Mr. Hryhoriy Seleschuk. “A monument is only an external symbol. We hope that near the monument there will be consultation centers,” stressed Patriarch Lubomyr. The monument will become a unique place for migrants to gather and a center of their unity. According to His Beatitude Lubomyr, migrants who return to Ukraine encounter many problems. “Some return after three, some after five, and some even after eight years. In these consultative centers people will be able to find help in different areas: economic, psychological, and family” said the patriarch. The Pastoral Missionary Department of the UGCC is involved in building the monument. The executive secretary of the department Fr. Vasyl Potochnyak says that the idea of erecting a monument came from the migrants. “Originally the sculpture was to show the difficult fate of an emigrant. We wanted to show a divided family. But then we understood that the monument should be a place that unifies and now there will be three parts to the sculpture – parents and a child,” explains the priest. Andriy Pilypiv from Ivano-Frankivsk is the sculptor of the project. As the basis for the composition of the sculpture Pilypiv used the Holy Family, which even in the most difficult times did not abandon child Jesus. The Christian family members are represented at the moment of a meeting. The monument will be a part of greater composition. “We want to build a half-opened chapel. On top in a dome there will be an image of Mother of God Oranta who bowed before the monument of an emigrant’s family” tells Fr. Vasyl Potochnyak. The sculpture is being funded by the workers, their families, and all people of good will. The cost of the monument is about 30 thousand euro.

Informed the press service of the Kyivan Archeparchy