On 25 June 2002, Lviv youth celebrated the first anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ukraine in 2001. Celebrations began in the morning with a conference entitled “The Pope and Youth: A Year After the Meeting,” and culminated in the evening, with the unveiling of a monument to Pope John Paul II.
Auxiliary Bishop Leon Maly, of the Lviv archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), Fr. Yosyf Milian, head of the Patriarchal Commission on Youth Affairs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), and Yaroslav Kashuba, head of the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lviv Regional Administration, started the conference off with their opening addresses.
The following speakers, representing different eparchies, institutions and organizations, reflected upon the influence of the Pope’s visit to Ukraine and reflected on the spiritual essence of the pontiff’s message. The conference proceeded with discussions on various topics in small working groups.
Participants composed greetings to the Pope and Cardinal Husar, head of the UGCC, as well as resolutions for the Patriarchal Synod of the UGCC, the president, the government and the parliament of Ukraine.
The festivities continued in the afternoon with a spiritual program for the youth and culminated with the dedication of a monument to Pope John Paul II.
Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Secretary for Relations with States for the Vatican, together with Cardinal Husar, Cardinal Jaworski of the RCC, and Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, performed the dedication.
The bronze monument, designed by Leonid Molodozhanyn, a world famous Ukrainian architect, was erected near the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Lviv’s Sykhiv neighborhood. This was the site of the papal youth rally on 26 June 2001.
“We love the Holy Father, and his visit will for ever be a great gift of God to us,” said Cardinal Husar in his greeting. Greeting the audience on behalf of Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Tauran said “the monument to the Pope will be a living memory of the Pope’s presence in Ukraine, the land he so passionately fell in love with.”
Source: www.ugcc.org.ua