UGCC Again Points to Sins of Abortion During Religious Procession in Lviv
On March 18, in Lviv, a religious procession was held. Some 40-50 thousand people participated in it. The event was organized by the Lviv Archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), and the prayer themes were prepared by the Redemptorist Fathers.
In their addresses, the monks, in particular, mentioned the recent address of the hierarchs of the UGCC and Roman Catholic Church calling to prohibit abortions in Ukraine.
“Let us remind that the Christian community is faced with a great moral responsibility for those who consider abortions to be a way out of difficult situations: we should relentlessly explain the Christian position on such sinful and shameful acts and support those who are broken by despair,” Hieromonach Mykhailo (Ivaniak) quoted the address of the Catholic bishops.
The Redemptorist Fathers noted that after that, many people expressed their support for the abortions. The people also express dissatisfaction with an alleged interference of the church in the area outside of its competence.
“This word of the church is not liked by everyone. Certain circles of people began to cry out in their manner: Why does the church interfere in other people’s affairs? A person makes a choice of life. Leave it to us! However, the word of the church is the word of Christ and one cannot be silent when people sin. People’s hearts became insensitive to sin, but the voice of God is still heard in them,” explained the monks.
The large procession lasted for three hours. The joint prayer was attended by the clergy, seminary students, parishioners and students. A large wooden cross was carried in turn by artists, teachers, representatives of the regional and city authorities. In the end, Metropolitan Ihor (Vozniak) of Lviv thanked everyone for their participation, led the community in prayer for the glorification of the Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky and gave his blessing to everyone.
