Kyiv Funds Controversial Restoration of Historical Church in Khersones

23.07.2001, 21:36

On July 17 Oleksandr Omelchenko, mayor of Kyiv, examined the progress on the reconstruction work at the Cathedral of St. Volodymyr in Khersones, near Sevastopol (southern Ukraine). Representatives of 20 Ukrainian political parties have protested that the newly-restored church is to be handed over to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). The cathedral was erected on the location of the church where Grand Prince Volodymyr the Great, who baptized Kyivan-Rus in 988, was himself baptized in the tenth century.

Built in 1861, the cathedral lay in ruins for the last 50 years. Since the restoration began in December 1998, 17 million hryvnia (approximately 3.2 million US dollars) of the city budget of Kyiv has been used for the reconstruction. Representatives of the protesting parties are of the opinion that the UOC-MP has no authentic claims to the building, which was restored at the expense of Ukraine's capital. Mayor Omelchenko stated that the main cross for the cathedral is to be placed on July 28 and the President of Ukraine will take part in the ceremony. It is also expected that Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II will consecrate the cathedral at the end of July. Materials for this article were taken from the Ukrainian-language sources BBC Ukraine and Unian