On September 20, 2014, in Svobody square in Mariupol the townspeople installed a cross and called on all people living in Ukraine to repent, and prayed for the end of the war.
On September 20, 2014, in Svobody square in Mariupol the townspeople installed a cross and called on all people living in Ukraine to repent, and prayed for the end of the war.
On this day, at 17:50, representatives of Christian churches of the city held a religious procession from Theatre Square toward the Square of Freedom holding crosses, icons and banners. People read ‘Our Father’, calling for peace. Participants carried banners featuring ‘Mariupol is Ukraine’.
In the area near the pedestal of the demolished monument to Lenin an improvised scene was installed. The priests of the Diocese of Donetsk and Mariupol of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, the Exarchate of Donetsk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, of Kharkiv and Zaporizhia Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and representatives of the Protestant community talked to the audience.
On the Day of the city the speakers called on total repentance all people living in Ukraine to restore peace and unity of the country.
There was music and common prayer in the square, uniting all denominations which agreed to participate in the procession.
Mariupol residents prayed that death and destruction may not affect their hometown.