“Children of war need special attention of Christ’s disciples”: Head of UGCC consecrates kindergarten ‘Kovcheg’ in Krykhivtsi
On February 16, during his archpastoral visit to the Carpathian region, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, performed the rite of consecration of the Kovcheg [“Ark”] kindergarten.
The Kovcheg Christian Kindergarten is a parish project to educate and develop young children in the spirit of the Christian faith, love for the Lord, the Holy Church, and our neighbors, as our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, accompanied by Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk Volodymyr Viytyshyn and Bishop Josaphat Moshchych, bishop of the Diocese of Chernivtsi, attended the solemn consecration of the nursery school.
“I want to greet you all because Ivano-Frankivsk has been under God’s special blessing for three days. We began these pastoral visits with the consecration of the St. Luke’s Clinic; yesterday, we ordinated a new bishop, Bishop Mykola Semenyshyn, Auxiliary Bishop of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archeparchy of the UGCC. Today, we are consecrating a kindergarten that will serve the little ones, those who need warmth, love, attention, and everything a person needs to live and develop. These three events lay on a single canvas,”
“The consecration of this kindergarten is one of our church’s social service events for the welfare of the long-suffering but God-loving Ukrainian people. Children of war — sounds unfair because those who know what war is are already children with special needs,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
“War steals childhood. And children of war need special attention, social service, and the pastoral care of Christ’s disciples. Children in times of war are one of the most vulnerable communities in our society,” the patriarch reflected.
Then the Primate of the Church congratulated Fr. Josaphat on opening the children’s educational institution and thanked him for being brave to build and open the doors of the Kovcheg in times when everything was being destroyed, and the war was raging on.
After that, His Beatitude Sviatoslav consecrated all three floors of the newly built school premises.
The UGCC Department for Information
based on the materials of the department for information of Ivano-Frankivsk archeparcy
