At the heart of the US capital Washington, DC,theMemorial to the Victims of Holodomor-Genocide of 1932-1933 in Ukraine,a nine-meter monument representing a massive bronze corn field, was inaugurated on November 7. The monument was installed near the building of the Congress, next to the Central Station (Union Station), through which millions of people get to the capital of the United States every year.
According to the press service of the UOC-KP, the ceremonies were attended by thousands of Ukrainian Diaspora representatives - perhaps for the first time since the opening of the monument to Taras Shevchenko, the capital of the United States saw such a crowded Ukrainian assembly.
Among the honored guests were the wife of the President of Ukraine Maryna Poroshenko, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chalyy, deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Rostislav Pavlenko, head of the Institute of National Remembrance Volodymyr Vyatrovych, senators, congressmen, diplomats, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations of the USA and Ukraine, Holodomor witnesses and others.
The Ukrainian Churches were represented by the Patriarch of the UOC-KP Filaret (Denisenko), Patriarch of UGCC Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), head of the UOC in the USA Metropolitan Anthony (Scherba), Bishop Daniel (Zelinsky) of the UOC in the USA, Metropolitan Stefan (Soroka)of PhiladelphianUGCC, numerous Orthodox and Greek Catholic clergy.
Participants had the opportunity to see the video address of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko dedicated to inauguration of the memorial.
The President noted that the Memorial to the Victims ofHolodomor in Ukraine of1932-1933 in Washington was inaugurated at a time when Ukraine defended its independence, giving resistance to the aggression of Russia, and the Kremlin again, as in times of the famine, is trying to wipe off Ukraine from the map. Poroshenko thanked the US President and Government, the friendly American people for the solidarity with Ukrainians.
Also during the ceremony the video address of President Barack Obama was broadcast, the addresses of former President George W. Bush, presidential candidate, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the senators and congressmen, including Congressman Sander Levin, who is the author of the US law, which allowed the Government of Ukraine to establish a memorial in the federal land of the District of Columbia.
After the official speeches, the Ukrainian clergy blessed of the monument and held a memorial service, lifting prayers for the innocent victims of the famine-genocide.