On September 7, the Ruling Bishop of the RCC Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr, Vitaliy Kryvytsky, sent a letter to Volodymyr Zelensky on behalf of the faithful of the parish of St. Nicholas about the immediate transfer of the Church of St. Nicholas to the religious community.
The letter was shared by a Catholic magazine CREDO.
"I appeal to you as the ruling Bishop of the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr the Roman Catholic Church, on behalf of the faithful of the parish of St. Nicholas, who express deep concern and concern about the situation that has developed since the fire of September 3, 2021, in the Church of St. Nicholas... I request you to kindly make a decision on the urgent transfer to permanent use of the religious community — the Roman Catholic parish of St. Nicholas in Kyiv - a religious building of St. Nicholas Church, located at the address: 75 Velyka Vasylkivska street, Kyiv. Sincerely, Bishop Vitaliy Kryvysky, ordinary of the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr of the RCC in Ukraine," the letter reads.
The bishop emphasizes that for almost 30 years, parishioners have been making numerous requests, appeals, and complaints about the return of the Church of St. Nicholas to his parish, which is the sole historical heir to the parish of St. Nicholas, which operated before the Soviet arbitrariness; however, inaction in the transfer of the building leads to irreparable consequences.
"For decades, the Catholic community in Ukraine has been sympathetic to the needs of the National House of organ and chamber music of Ukraine and agreed that the transfer of organ and creative groups to other cultural institutions is a complex process. However, after the fire, the church is in disrepair and is not provided for use by both representatives of the House of organ music and the parish. There is no doubt that the temple needs major restoration, now even more. However, the initiative of the Ministry of Culture to raise funds for the restoration of the church caused a great resonance in the religious community and among society. The restoration program specifies a separate item for replacing the organ, which means that the Ministry of Culture wants to once again freeze the issue of returning the church and make transfer impossible, again for decades, until Ukraine finally reaches the status of a state governed by the rule of law," the letter says.
Bishop Kryvytsky called on the president to contribute to the process of restoring justice to the parish and the church: "the church was created in order to unite people with God and with each other. Help us, we ask that the Church of St. Nicholas fulfilled the mission for which it was built at the beginning of the last century. The religious community has repeatedly officially declared its consent to hold organ music concerts in the premises of St. Nicholas Church, as is the case in other European countries, and publicly offered to conclude a contract as a guarantee of compliance with the interests of the National House of Organ and Chamber Music of Ukraine after the church is returned to the religious community. However, it will still be necessary to restore the organ that must meet the needs of all parties to the treaty."