UOC hierarch: Cross Procession shows loyalty to Prince Vladimir's choice

Participants of the Great Cross Procession. Photo: Information and Education Department

The great religious procession on the occasion of the 1031th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, which was held in Kiev on July 27, 2019, showed the loyalty of the Ukrainian people to the choice of Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and the canonical Church, stressed the Chancellor of the UOC, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Borispol and Brovary.

“Everyone who takes part in a cross procession testifies to the world and God about their allegiance to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It is very difficult to say how many people walked in the procession this year. But we can see that there were definitely far more believers than last year,” the Information and Education Department of the UOC conveyed the words of Metropolitan Anthony. “According to our approximate estimates – about 300,000 participants. This is really a large number of people, which testifies to the loyalty of the Ukrainian people to the choice once made by the Holy Prince Vladimir.”

The Great Cross Procession united completely different people not with political slogans, but with heartfelt prayer for Ukraine and its people, Vladyka Anthony noted.

“We were participants of a big event, which, although repeated every year, is experienced in a special way every time. This is a procession dedicated to the Day of the Baptism of Rus and takes place on the eve of the holiday in honor of Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles. These are really special feelings when people of different age and walks of life come from different regions of our homeland, their mouths pronouncing not political slogans, but prayer – a heartfelt prayer for their native land, for their people, and for their Orthodox Church,” he concluded.

Recall the UOJ conducted live updates of the Great Cross Procession in Kiev.

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