On February 26, Pope Francis received the delegates of Ternopil-Zboriv Archdiocese of the UGCC, Fr Volodymyr Firman, Rector of the Marian Spiritual Center ‘Zarvanytsya’ and Fr. Roman Dutchak, the judicial vicar of Ternopil-Zboriv Archdiocese.
On behalf of Archbishop and Metropolitan Basil (Semenyuk) of Ternopil-Zboriv, the clergymen thanked the pontiff for the miraculous icon of Christ, who for 11 days remained in the region and caused great excitement and spiritual exaltation:
It was with joy that His Holiness learned the news that about 400 thousand faithful came to honor the holy relics dating back to the times of Jesus,” Fr. Volodymyr Firman said. “We also convey sincere congratulations and deep appreciation of Metropolitan Vasyl and invited the Holy Father to visit Zarvanytsya, which is among the 20 largest Marian centers in Europe.”
The clergymen also expressed their gratitude to the Pope for prayers and support for the Ukrainian people in these difficult times and gave an icon of Our Savior, which was recently written by Mykola Shevchuk at the Second All-Ukrainian plein air of iconography and sacred art “Window to the Sky. Zarvanytsya-2017.”
As reported, these days the icon was returned to personal sacristy Pope in the Vatican. The arrival of the relics in Ukraine became a symbolic act of support of the Holy See to the Ukrainian people in their difficult time and became an important spiritual intermediary for unification of the faithful in prayer for Ukraine, according to the website of Ternopil-Zboriv archdiocese of the UGCC.