Twenty-nine letters from orphans written to Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky have been published for the first time in a book called "Heaven: To St. Nicholas through Andrey Sheptytsky.” It shows the depth of children's souls, but also proves how difficult life was for children without parents and how the metropolitan and monastic community cared for them, informs radio Liberty.
In 1921, Metropolitan Andrey wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XV and the Greek Catholic hierarchy in the United States and Canada to help orphans. This letter is published in a book. Metropilitan writes that from 1914 to 1920, armies are passing through Galicia every year leaving a lot of orphans. He said that the UGCC has organized twenty orphanages, but can not always give children what they need. "The children who were placed in orphanages are so oppressed by the tragedy of their lives that nuns have to work for months to bring a little smile to their faces."
The book includes children's letters and photos of the metropolitan, who visited the orphanage and socialized with children. "The little dodgers knew that St. Nicholas would give them something through the hands of the Metropolitan Andrey, whom they called Daddy. Actually in the Soviet era the KGB spread slander about the metropolitan, saying that he had many children because of the letters from children," says Oksana Gaiova, the book's compiler.