Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church

Metropolitan Borys expresses his condolences to the Jewish Community of Philadelphia and in the United States

 

Dear Leaders and Members of the Jewish Community of Philadelphia and in the United States,

 

Please accept my condolences on the occasion of the unconscionable terrorist attack on Israel this past weekend. The scale and pitiless nature of the assault is heartrending. Terrorism is never an answer! I express my sincere solidarity with your people.

 

During our Saturday and Sunday services, we raised prayers for justice and peace for you, your friends, and your relatives. Yesterday, commemorating in Philadelphia the Babyn Yar genocidal massacre of Jews and others with leaders of the Jewish and Ukrainian communities of our city, we were not only mourning past antisemitic crimes and crimes against humanity.

 

We stood together renewing our commitment to work for peace and justice for all. We stood together as brothers and sisters in shock regarding what is happening before the world’s eyes today, both in the Holy Land and in Ukraine. No more genocide!

 

More than ever today, Ukrainians and Jews, people of faith and people of goodwill, can understand each other as we face acts meant to lead to our annihilation. At a time when the person of the president of Ukraine unites our peoples, let us pray together that the will of God may be done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

I pray that Israel enjoys freedom and independence, democracy, justice, and peace.

 

Respectfully,

Borys Gudziak

Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan-Archbishop of Philadelphia

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In 1919, the Ukrainian Republic Capella, the national choir of the newly independent Ukrainian National Republic, embarked on a cultural diplomacy mission to spread awareness of a newly independent Ukrainian nation around the world. Under the auspices of the head of the republic, Symon Petliura, and his Ministries for Education and Foreign Affairs, the choir toured Europe and North America. Directed by renowned composer and conductor Oleksandr Koshyts, the Ukrainian Republic Capella shared Ukraine’s unique choral tradition by way of promoting the country’s sovereignty and distinctiveness from "the Russian world.” On October 5, 1922, the choir performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and North American audiences heard for the first time Mykola Leontovych’s “Shchedryk”, a New Year’s song that would become the beloved Christmas classic, “Carol of the Bells. Metropolitan Gudziak at the Mass for Migrants and Refugees in Washington: Ukrainians will defend their God-given dignity. 

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