Today, on July 25, as part of the festivities dedicated to 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew served Vespers in the Cathedral of St. Sophia of the capital.
Praying at
the divine service also were Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Hieronymos,
Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv
and All Ukraine, representatives of the delegations of the Local Orthodox
Churches and clergymen of our Church.
High officials of the state were also present at the divine service, among them
President of Ukraine Victor Yushchsnko with his wife, Vice Prime-Minister of
Ukraine Ivan Vasiunyk, Minister of Defense Yuriy Ekhanurov, deputies of the
Verkhovna Rada and the representatives of the diplomatic corps.
The Vespers were accompanied by the singing of the Byzantine choir from Greece under
the guidance of L.Angeloupulos.
Before the divine service began, the Ecumenical Patriarch performed the rite
of blessing of the seven bells for the bell-tower of St. Sophia
of Kyiv, after which he blessed the Holy Doors of St. Sophia, which had been
returned some time ago after two-year reconstruction in Poland.
At the end of the service representatives of all the Churches greeted President
of Ukraine V.A. Yushchenko and signed the distinguished visitors' book of St. Sophia.
As it was previously
stipulated, there were no representatives of other jurisdictions present at the
service. | |
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