Events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko were held on Sunday, March 9.
In Kyiv, the celebration began by laying flowers at the monument to Taras Shevchenko. It was followed by an event in Shevchenko Park with the participation of Maidan activists, government leaders, officials, and representatives the diplomatic corps and the public, as well as churches and religious organizations in Ukraine, including representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP), the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Armenians, Muslims, and Protestants.
“We have come to pay homage and bow our heads to the main Hero of Ukraine – Taras Shevchenko. Our great prophet for two hundred years has been leading his people from slavery to freedom, to a truly strong country – a country that all Ukrainians wherever they live – here or abroad – will be proud of. Today his word of truth, word of faith helps us to build Ukraine, restore the Ukrainian government, stop discord and confrontation. His word helps us to recover the completely shattered economy. And today when an aggressor threatens our land, our Taras is with us in our ranks. And with him, his words “struggle, and you shall overcome,” which has become our slogan, with our weapons, we win. Because with us is truth, with us is God, with us is Ukraine, and with us is Our Great Taras. I thank God for giving Ukraine our great prophet. Glory to God! Glory to the Great Taras! Glory to Ukraine!” acting President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov said in his speech.
Among the speakers were the heads of Ukrainian churches and religious organizations. In his speech, Patriarch Filaret, head of the UOC-KP, spoke about Taras Shevchenko’s invaluable contribution to Ukraine's history and the relevance of his words, harshly criticized Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and called on the people to courageously and with God defend the indivisibility of Ukrainian lands. Patriarch Filaret expressed confidence that victory will be Ukraine’s and the U.S. and Europe should help as today they are allies of an independent Ukraine.
“What is the basis of our victory? It is the invincible spirit of the people. The spirit that has overcome the fear of death. And you witnessed how snipers killed Ukrainians here, and they were not afraid of death. So you think that our people cannot defend their country? They can. We have true guarantors – the United States and Great Britain, who do not refuse to be guarantors of the integrity of our Ukrainian territory. We turn to them as guarantors, to fulfill their duty not only to the Ukrainian people, but to the world. Because if you do not protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, who will trust you in the future, who will trust international agreements? Therefore, the honor of the U.S. and the UK requires them to protect our territorial integrity. But we, dear brothers and sisters, should first of all rely on ourselves. We have to do everything we can so that our state is democratic, intact, free,” said in an address to the people gathered on the Square Patriarch Filaret.
The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, during a speech on the Maidan called Taras Shevchenko a prophet whose voice opens for us a door of freedom and happiness in our native land. The hierarch asked all to pray for the land that the great prophet gave our nation and all the world.
“Let us pray for the indivisibility of our land. For the Lord God to protect us all from the disaster of war and new bloodshed. I ask you not to stop praying, because we still have a long way to go before we can say that the Ukrainian people have won on their own land,” asked the head of UGCC.
From the Ukrainian Orthodox Church took part in the celebrations: Metropolitan Onufriy of Chernivtsi and Bukovina Onufry, Chancellor the UOC Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, and Metropolitan Oleksandr of Pereyaslav-Khmelytsky and Vishnevsky. In his speech one of the representatives of the UOC-MP stated that Metropolitan Volodymyr is a great connoisseur of Taras Shevchenko’s work. He has an outstanding collection of works by the Ukrainian patriot and artist.
After the speeches by the church leaders, the Maidan chanted: “The united church.”