New Administrator of the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv Named
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, has named Father Andriy Bodnaruk as the new administrator of the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv. Hieromonk Nikanor Loik had previously served as the administrator of the main shrine of the UGCC for 13 years. The new administrator was introduced on May 6, Holy Monday, during the cathedral’s patronal feast.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav expressed his gratitude to Father Nikanor for his years of service as the administrator of the Patriarchal Cathedral. Following this, the decree announcing Father Nikanor’s withdrawal from this position was read. Father Nikanor will continue his pastoral duties at St. Ivan’s Lavra of the Studite Order of the UGCC in Shevchenkivskyy Hai, Lviv.
The Head of the UGCC noted that Father Nikanor had experienced numerous significant events in the cathedral, from the Revolution of Dignity to the patriarchal hideout and through a full-scale war, always remaining faithful in his pastoral ministry: “Few people know that during the Revolution of Dignity, Father Nikanor was the last priest to escape from a burning tent on the Maidan, carrying the Gospel and other sacred items. You were a pastor here when we were accommodating up to 800 people in the patriarchal shelter. There were evenings when attacks on our cathedral were being prepared, and you were here. When the full-scale war broke out, many people left, but hundreds of people came back here to the bomb shelter because they had no other place to save their lives. And you were here. Today, in the presence of our bishops, priests and the entire parish, let me sincerely express my gratitude to you for everything.”
Afterward, a decree naming Archpriest Andriy Bodnaruk as the new administrator of the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv was read.
“Dear Father, I believe that you are the one whom the Lord sends to us all today, on this holiday,” the Primate addressed the newly appointed administrator of the cathedral. “We entrust you with this parish. We entrust you with the souls of those people who come here. I have one commandment for you: Do not lose anyone!”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav outlined three main criteria for selecting the new administrator of the Patriarchal Cathedral: “First, we were looking for someone who has been here with us from the beginning. Second, we needed a person who demonstrated the ability to create a parish, even from scratch, the ability to build where everyone wanted to destroy and prevent at any cost. And in the conditions of war, one more criterion was added to those of the previous ones: it should be someone who was here from the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Not just a witness to those events, but someone who was here, among us, the light of our Savior’s presence.”
Father Andriy Bodnaruk, who until now served as the administrator of the parish of Borys and Hlib of the UGCC in Pozniaky, Kyiv, and is the head of the press bureau of the Kyiv Archeparchy, expressed his gratitude for the trust placed in him: “I want to build this trust on the foundations of the faith left to us by the blessed martyr Omelyan Kovch. He said about priests that a parish priest should build his parish outside of the baptism. Today, following His Beatitude Lubomyr, I wish to reiterate that my dream is to be a human being. On these foundations, I want to justify all the trust that I feel enveloped in today.”
The newly appointed administrator of the Patriarchal Cathedral expressed special gratitude to his predecessor, Fr. Nikanor for setting an example of faith and deep spirituality.
The UGCC Department for Information
