Herald May 05/11.qxd - Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

THE HERALDMay 2011Pastoral Message from the Ukrainian Catholic and the UkrainianOrthodox Hierarchs of United States of America and Canada25th Anniversary of Chornobyl Tragedyn Twenty-five years ago, in the earlymorning hours of Satur day, April 26,1986, the residents of Prypiat, a largetown and administrative centre locatedon the river of the same name, one ofthe many tributaries along the upperreaches of the mighty Dnipro north ofthe Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, were awakenedfrom their sleep by an event thatwould change their lives forever. Thisevent was of such immense proportions,that its devastating effects spreadfar beyond the limits of the city andeven of Ukraine itself, and indeed, theyare still being felt today.At precisely 1:23 am local time ahuge explosion rocked Re act or No.4 ofthe nearby Chornobyl Nuclear PowerStation, split ting its walls and sending atoxic plume of radioactive fallout, 400times greater than that emitted by theatomic bomb in Hiroshima, high intothe night sky. Although the Soviet au -thorities initially attempted to minimizethe magnitude of the nu clear accidentand even deny its occurrence, theimmense scale of the disaster becamequickly evident to the entire world asthe toxic cloud passed from Ukraineinto Russia, Belarus and eventually intoScandinavia and Western Europe.The economic, environmental andhuman costs of the nu clear accident inChornobyl that night have been trulystaggering. Many people living in theim mediate vicinity of the power plantwere killed outright in the aftermath ofthe explosion. Many more sufferedago nizing deaths due to radiation sickness.Others were sickened with cancersand other illnesses directly linkedto excessive exposure to radiation.Chil dren proved especially vulnerable.It is estimated that in the 25 years sincethe catastrophe, over 4,000 children inUkraine, Belarus and Rus sia have be -come ill with thyroid cancer. The irnum bers are still growing.The explosion and ensuing radioactivecontamination also forced theevacuation and eventual resettlementof 350,000 people living in Chornobyland in 90 separate communities in thesurrounding area. The Chornobyl Ex -clu sion Zone—an area almost 40 milesin diameter surrounding the crippledpower plant—is off limits to humanhabitation and will remain so for generationsto come because of radioactivetoxins that have poisoned the oncerich and productive soil.A quarter century on, the catastrophein Chornobyl remains the largestand most devastating nuclear accidentin history and has rightly been de -scribed as the technological disaster ofthe 20th century.Recalling and reflecting upon thesesobering and saddening facts on the25th anniversary of the Chornobylcatastrophe, we can only lift up ourhearts in prayer to the Al mighty Godand beg for His continued mercy andcompassion as we remember those whosuffered indescribable pain and loss.We recall firstly, on this solemnanniversary, the many innocent men,women and children who perished inthis tragedy and we pray for the reposeof their souls. We remember in particularthe brave and selfless firefighters,who, in the hours and days followingthe explosion, know ingly and willinglyexposed themselves to mortal dangerand almost certain death in or der toextinguish the flames and constructand place the sarcophagus on thesmouldering ruins of the reactor. Ofsuch men Christ speaks eloquentlywhen He declares: "Greater love has noone than this, than to lay down one’s lifefor his friends." (Jn. 15:13) We pray thatGod grant them eternal rest in a placeof everlasting light where there is nopain, sorrow or mourning.We also remember and pray fortho se whose health was irrevocably da -maged by the radiation that wasreleased that day, those who were takenill and are living with sickness to thisday, and for their families, and for tho -se whose lives were cut short by prematuredeath. We especial ly re mem berthe children, most of whom who wereborn after the catastrophe itself, whosuffer physical and psychological disabilitiesto day because of Chornobyl.We also remember and pray for themany thousands of people who wereforced, by the noxious cloud of radiation,to flee their homes and leave be -hind forever, everything that was fam -iliar and loved by them: the villages,houses, fields and farms whe re theyand generations before them wereborn, lived, laboured and died. MayGod grant all who suffer His peace, ho -pe and consolation.And, in a special way, we also re -member and pray for our beloved ho -meland of Ukraine: so rich, generousand abundant, yet so often ne glected,plundered, and abused over the centuriesby the men who ruled over her.We read in the opening verses ofHoly Scrip ture in the Book of Genesisthat, after creating Adam and Eve, Godthe Father blessed them and entrustedthe earth and everything that He hadcreated on it to them and their posteritysaying: "Be fruitful and multiply; fillthe earth and subdue it, and havedominion... over every living thing thatmoves on the earth." (Gen. 1:28) "ThenGod saw everything He had made, andindeed it was very good." (Gen. 1:31)As the summit of God’s creation,made in His image and likeness, man -kind was thus gi ven the great privilegeof being stewards of God’s creation, en -trusted by Him with the awe some re -sponsibility of caring for, preservingand nurturing the earth and all thatGod had deemed ‘very good’ for all generations.Sad ly however, we know thatthrough his sinfulness, mankind timeand time again through out history hasneglected the sacred duty of responsiblestewardship over the earth and hasabused his privileged position inexchange for prestige, profit and personalgain, often desecrating and de -stroying God’s creation in the process.And so it was in Chornobyl. Theworld now knows that the nuclear ac -cident in Chornobyl, according to thefindings of the Nuclear Safety AdvisoryGroup, was entirely avoidable and canbe attributed to "…a deficient safetyculture, not only at the Chor nobylplant, but throughout the Soviet de -sign, operating and regulatory organi-Pastoral Messagezations… " It was the morally bank ruptand dehumanizing Com munist idealogyof the Soviet Union, and those thatwere unfortunate slaves to it, the systemthat placed the fulfillment of 5-yearplans before the good of the people,that are the true causes of the nu clearcatastrophe in Chor nobyl.From the distance of a quarter centurywe can see, despite the incalculabledeath and de struction caused byChornobyl, that some good has comefrom it as well. For one, the catastrophein Chornobyl proved to be, in so -me ways, the death knell of the So vietUnion. The explosion shook not onlythe nu clear power station, but thefound ation of the godless system thatbuilt it as well. The world came to realize,perhaps as never before, with whatutter duplicity and callous disregardthe Soviet leadership treated its citizens.It is no surprise that within a fewyears of Chor no byl the entire SovietEmpire had collapsed in ruins.In addition, over the years manypeople, Ukrainians and non-Ukrain -ians alike, as well as organizations fromnations the world over have been unitedin their efforts to aid the victims ofChornobyl in whatever way they can,especially the innocent children. Theyare people who live the reality that weall form one Body of Christ, and that,as St. Paul says: "If one member suffers,all the members suffer with him…" (ICor. 12:26) We remember and pray forthem as well, that God reward them fortheir good hearts and kind deeds.In conclusion, on the solemn 25th1986 - 2011anniversary of the nuclear catastrophein Chornobyl, let us invoke the lovingprotection of the most holy Theo tokos,Queen of Ukraine. May she shelter uswith her Omophor and, through Herpowerful intercession, may those whoperished find eternal repose, may thosewho suffer find spiritual and physicalhealing, and may the land of Ukrainebe renewed and blessed.Given April, 2011.† Constantine, Metropolitan of theUkrainian Orthodox Church of the USA† Yurij, Metropolitan of the UkrainianOrthodox Church in Canada† Archbishop Antony† Bishop Ilarion† Bishop Andriy† Bishop Daniel† Stefan, Metropolitan of the UkrainianCatholic Church in the USA† Lawrence, Metropolitan of theUkrainian Catholic Church in Canada† Bishop Richard† Bishop Stephen† Bishop Paul† Bishop David† Bishop Kenneth† Bishop Bryan† Bishop John8 квітня 2011 p.ВЕЛИКОДНЄ ВІТАННЯСвітовий Конгрес Українців щиро вітає Ієрархів і душпастирів укра -їнських Церков та українців, що проживають в Україні та за її межа -ми, зі світлим святом Христового Воскресіння!День Воскресіння Ісуса Христа є найбільшим і найвеличнішим длявсіх українців святом. Приходячи навесні і знаменуючи собою про -будження природи, Великдень символізує перемогу добра над злом,життя над смертю та світла над пітьмою. Він наповнює нас духов ноюпіднесеністю і радістю, вселяє в серця мир і злагоду та віру в кра щемайбутнє.Великдень згуртовує мільйони українців України й діаспори—всіх,хто сповідує християнство і його духовні надбання. У цей день мисво єю молитвою та добрим словом згадуємо тих, хто вже відійшов увічність, залишивши нам свою любов і життєвий досвід. Ми такожщиро дякуємо Воскреслому Сину Божому за його ласки та просимопокровительства для своїх рідних і близьких та для дорогої нам ду -ховної Батьківщини—України.У світлий день Великодня Світовий Конгрес Українців закликає всесві тове українство славити Сина Божого, а також, об'єднавшись на в -коло спільних християнських та українських національних цін но -стей, відчути свою відповідальність перед завтрашнім днем та бу тичуйними до потреб наших братів і сестер у всьому світі, які по тре бу -ють нашого розуміння та дійової підтримки.Тож нехай світлі Великодні дні принесуть у кожну українську родинунадію на краще майбутнє, мир, злагоду і благополуччя, наповнятьнас вірою у власні сили, а також додадуть натхнення і далі продов жу -вати спільну працю для добра України та українського народу!Христос Воскрес! Воістину Воскрес!Евген ЧолійПрезидентСвітовий Конгрес УкраїнцівСтефан РоманівГенеральний секретар3ВІСНИК • THE HERALD Tel.: 1-877-586-3093 Fax: (204) 582-5241 E-mail: visnyk@uocc.ca web:www.uocc.ca