Exhibition in Lviv about Liquidation, Underground Activity and Revival of the UGCC Held
On March 23, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. in the Andrey Sheptytskyj National Museum in Lviv (Prospect Svobody, 20) the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the legalization of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) “Toward the Light of Resurrection through the Thorns of Catacombs” took place. The photo exhibition, which was prepared by the Institute of Church History of the Ukrainian Catholic University, was already displayed in Kyiv. So reported the Information Department of UGCC.
“With this exhibition the Institute of Church History aims to express gratitude to the known and unknown martyrs and confessors of faith, who with their great deeds make it possible for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to regenerate on Ukrainian soil,” remarked Fr. Andrei Mykhaleiko, PhD, director of the Institute of Church History.
The exhibition includes materials from the institute, including memoirs of eyewitnesses and active participants of the underground, which were collected during 1992-2009, documents of the state’s archives, and pictures from private collections. The exhibition is sponsored by the Lviv Regional Council, in cooperation with the state branch of the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] Archives, the History of Religion Museum (Lviv), and the Liberation Movement Research Center. The creators of the project are Fr. Taras Bublyk, Svitlana Hurkina, Iryna Kolomyiets, Oksana Kasichnyk, and Fr. Andrii Mykhaleiko. Artistic decoration was carried out by Olha Salo.
In the exhibition are shown the histories of representatives of Greek Catholic clergy, monasticism, and the laity – each of which had a unique human fate. All together they are the witnesses of deep Christian faith and unshakable loyalty to the church and nation. The exhibition covers the period from 1939 to 1991 and represents the three important stages of the tragic, yet heroic, history of the UGCC of the 20th century: the violent liquidation, underground activity, and legalization in 1989.
The creators of the project hope the materials of the photo exhibit will summarize and present the position of the whole church in the conditions of the persecution and expose the forms of resistance and underground activity of clergy and laity and their methods of struggle for the recognition of their rights.
The photo exhibit will be open daily until April 15, except Mondays, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
More detailed information can be obtained from the Institute of Church History: (032) 276-27-77, [email protected]
