Priest from Chicago Passes Icon on Which UPA Fighters Took Oaths to Volyn

The senior priest of the parish of the Holy Sophia of Kyiv of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate of Chicago, Ivan Boiarchuk, presented to the region of Volyn an Icon of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin on which fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army took their oaths, the press service of the Volyn Regional State Administration to IA ZIK reported.

The governor of Volyn, Borys Klimchuk, met with the priest. Father Boiarchuk visited Volyn to pass the icon “Image of Intercession of the Holy Virgin” on which fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army took their oaths in 1942 and rare books published in USA in 1950s.

The priest told the officials the history of the icon; “In the beginning, Roman Shukhevych transported it to the Czech territory, then it was passed to the main treasurer of OUN-UPA [editor: Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and Ukrainian Insurgent Army], Metropolitan Petro, who lived in our family. Before his death, Metropolitan Petro said to me: if some day you find a place on earth where you will be confident of its safe and reliable custody, leave it there. If you do not find one, decide yourself how to pass it to the descendants.”

“Most probably, these exhibits will be kept in the Volyn Region Museum. Some of the received books should probably be republished.”