Condolences Extended on Death of Seven Orthodox Pilgrims in Eastern Ukraine
KYIV — According to the presidential press service, the outgoing Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko extended his condolences to the families and relatives of the seven Orthodox pilgrims, three priests and four accompanying laymen of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna of Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), who went on pilgrimage to the Sviatohirsk Monastery in the Donetsk Region. “Let the All-Merciful Lord accept them in the host of the righteous and give eternal peace to their souls. I extend my condolences to the relatives and families of the deceased and wish them strength during these mournful days,” reads the presidential address to the head of UOC-MP.
The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), Metropolitan Volodymyr expressed his condolences to Metropolitan Onufrii of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna of the UOC-MP on the tragic death in the car crash on February 8 of seven pilgrims who went on a pilgrimage to the Sviatohirsk Monastery.
“We pray to the All-Merciful God, the Lord of the Heaven and Earth, for the repose of the deceased. Eternal memory to them. I wish the relatives and family of the deceased courage and firmness to endure the difficult loss,” reads the hierarch’s address, reports the press service of UOC-MP.
Bishop Mykolai (Simkailo) of Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church also expressed condolences to the clergy, faithful, and the families of the deceased on behalf of the clergymen of his eparchy. “Even though we are canonically separated, the pain of the losses unites all of us in spiritual empathy. Therefore, we pray for the repose of the deceased servants of God, for them to receive the deserved Kingdom of God, and for their families and the whole eparchy who endure the pain of the difficult loss,” reads the address, as reported by the press service of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
The press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency Situations informed that the accident occurred on Monday evening, February 8, 2010, near the village of Myroshnykovka, the Kharkov Region, on the 397th km of the highway Kiev-Kharkov-
Dovzhansky in the result of a frontal crash of a Mercedes Benz-312 microbus with a DAF 95 Fx-430 truck.
