On September 8, Roman Catholics began a prayer Marathon on the rosary in Kyiv with the intention of returning the capital's St. Nicholas Church to the community.
This is reported by Catholic Media Center.
The prayer was led by the rector of the delegation of Missionaries of the Oblates of Mary the Immaculate in Ukraine, Fr. Pavlo Vyshkovsky. An icon of the Mother of God of Ostrobram, which hung on the organ and miraculously survived the fire, was brought to the service.
The marathon will last around the clock until October 13.
The parish community of St. Nicholas has been asking the state for 30 years to return the church, which believers are now forced to rent. For more than 10 years, the church has been in disrepair and requires urgent thorough restoration.
On September 3 there was a fire in the church, which worsened the condition of the shrine. Believers hope that the authorities will keep their promise and return the church to its rightful owner — the Roman Catholic Church.
The prayer initiative is held with the blessing of Bishop Vitaly Krivitsky, an ordinary of the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr.
As RISU has already informed, on September 7, Bishop Vitaly Kryvytsky sent an email to Volodymyr Zelensky on behalf of the faithful of the parish of St. Nicholas requesting to transfer the Church of St. Nicholas to the religious community.