chRISTIAN CHURCHES
Ukraine: 25 years since Chernobyl25 years ago, the night of April 25, reactor number four of Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine exploded. Russian authorities failed to disclose information. The local population wasn’t evacuated until 36 hours after the disaster. A cloud of radioactive fallout extended for hundreds of kilometres across Europe. After 25 years, in the same night at the same time His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia, officiated a solemn commemoration for the victims of Chernobyl’s nuclear disaster in the church of St. Archangel Michael in the region of Kiev, where was erected a memorial to the heroes of Chernobyl. Patriarch Kyrill – who reached Ukraine to pay homage to the victims and the survivors of the nuclear disaster – led a funeral procession with the laying of flowers at the memorial. “25 years have passed since that tragic night when a blast uncovered the mortal nucleus of a nuclear reactor”, the Patriarch said addressing attendants. “According to scientists the radiation’s consequences on the population and on the environment is comparable to 500 atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima. The Patriarch thus recalled the firemen’s heroism, seeking to limit the effects of the catastrophe. “It’s hard to say how this catastrophe would have ended without the intervention of all of these people, whose names we recall in our prayers today. They are no longer with us. They are in the Heavens with God”. The Patriarch concluded his speech with an appeal not to forget what happened 25 years ago and “to keep memory alive”. At the end of the celebration, at 1: 23, and 40 seconds (the exact moment of the nuclear explosion), one of the clean-up workers- known as ‘liquidators’ – tolled the bell 25 times, one for each year that has passed since the Chernobyl disaster. The commemoration was attended by 700 people including the plant’s ‘liquidators’, Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov, along with the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine. Ukrainians brought flowers and lit candles. At the end of the funeral bell-toll His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir addressed attendants: “I thank your Holiness for your Holy Prayers, whereby we commemorate today the heroes of Chernobyl”. “May the merciful hand of the Lord send us no more of these ordeals. We ask and we pray to the Lord to grant eternal rest to the souls of the righteous”.Russia: Patriarch Kyrill’s message to the PopePatriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia sent an Easter message to Christian Church leaders. The message was addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, to the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the head of the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Finland Archbishop Kari Makinen, the President of the Council of the Evangelical Church of Germany Nikolaus Schneider, among others. “The new dignity bestowed upon us by the Saviour – writes the Patriarch – implies a great responsibility. We are all called to bring to the world the Revelation of God’s Truth, professing peace, justice and love in words and deeds, thus enhancing the redeeming light of Christ’s resurrection”.Scotland: Card. O’Brien’s appeal for unityIn his Easter homily Scottish cardinal Keith O’Brien asked Christians to unite “”in the face of aggressive secularism to maintain our Christian heritage and culture in our great country”. The leader of Scottish Catholics paid tribute to friends in the Presbyterian “Church of Scotland” and to ecumenical relations and warned against moves to “destroy our Christian heritage and culture and take God from the public square” adding: “Religion must not be taken from the public square!” The archbishop of St.Andrews and Edimburgh recalled the words of the Pope, who during his visit past September invited Christians to walk together. He commemorated the centenary of the modern ecumenical movement that began with the conference of Edinburgh and said: “We have gone a long way in our common Christian journey”. “Recently, various Christians in our society were marginalised and prevented from acting in accordance with their beliefs because they were not willing to publicly endorse a particular lifestyle”. “Yes”, His Eminence said in the conclusion of his homily, “Christians must work toward that full unity for which Christ prayed, but even at this present time Christians must be united in their common awareness of the enemies of the Christian faith in our country, of the power that they are at present exerting, and the need for us to be aware of that right to equality which so many others cry out for”.
