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THE PAPAL VISIT TO UKRAINE     June 23-27, 2001

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Latest Headlines: • RUSSIA: GOVERNMENT AND CHURCH AT ODDS OVER PAPAL VISIT // 13.02.2002 (16:17) • Ukrainian Ministry Presents New Books On Papal Visit // 29.09.2001 (13:15) • Kazakhs Will Hear Pope in Russian; Also a Stop in Armenia // 29.08.2001 (18:56) • Pope Greets Ukrainians On 10th Anniversary of Independence // 23.08.2001 (16:32) • Over 50% of Ukrainians View Papal Visit Positively // 07.08.2001 (01:51) • Pope Will Also Find Ukrainians in Kazakhstan // 01.08.2001 (02:56) • Pope Gets Boost From Putin // 30.07.2001 (11:23) • Belarusian Cardinal Hopes for Papal Visit "Sooner or Later Alexy II’s Veto Will Be Discarded" // 30.07.2001 (10:24) • Pope Gives Patriarch Alexis Book of His Speeches from Ukraine // 26.07.2001 (23:45) • U.S. Ukrainian Catholics find hope in pope's trip to homeland // 26.07.2001 (00:33) • Ukrainian Envoy to Vatican Hails Papal Visit // 16.07.2001 (17:14) • "Reflecting on John Paul"-- Kyiv Post // 07.07.2001 (12:52) • Seven Impressions: A Commentary from Kyiv // 06.07.2001 (12:34) • Russians Impressed With Pope During His Ukraine Trip // 05.07.2001 (11:51) • John Paul II Recalls Key Moments in Ukraine // 05.07.2001 (11:47) • Pope Thanks Mary for Trip to Ukraine // 04.07.2001 (19:38) • Orthodox Archpriest Joins Papal Ceremony // 04.07.2001 (19:34) • Orthodox Theologian Views Papal Trip // 04.07.2001 (19:29) • Ukraine a Step Toward Re-evangelizing Europe, Pope Says // 04.07.2001 (09:58) • Pope Beatifies 28 Greek Catholics at Largest Byzantine Liturgy in History // 27.06.2001 (21:14)				Ukraine's Catholics Kiss Visiting Icon KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- As Pope John Paul II's long-awaited visit to Ukraine approaches, Greek Catholic parishioners are streaming in to a little church in the capital Kyiv to kiss a visiting treasure: the Virgin of Zarvanytsia. 22.06.2001 (17:13) // Religious Information Service of Ukraine Source: Marina Sysoyevas, Associated Press    The gold-framed icon of Mary and Jesus holding a Bible was chosen to adorn a temporary altar during the two Masses at Kyiv's Chaika airfield on Sunday and Monday. In the meantime it is on display at St. Michael's cathedral in Kyiv, where it was brought in from the Zarvanytsia village, about 310 miles to the west.   The huge portrait is painted on wood and is believed to cure ailments, and is one of the holiest shrines for Ukrainian Catholics.   According to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, the icon was discovered in the 13th century by a monk who fled west from Kyiv, to escape Muslim Tatars encroaching on the Kyivan Rus empire.   Weary and in failing health after his journey, the monk prayed in a forest on the banks of the Strypa River and dreamed he saw the Virgin Mary. When he awoke, he noticed something glowing in a nearby spring, and found the icon, and was healed. The monk decided to remain there in what is now Zarvanytsia.   The icon has attracted pilgrims for centuries. In 1754, it was placed in a stone church and cardinal Ivan Simeoni announced an annual pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia, which was banned by Soviet authorities in 1945 but has resumed since the 1991 Soviet collapse.   During the atheistic Communist regime, the church of Zarvanytsia was used as a warehouse for a collective farm, but the icon survived, secretly kept in a museum basement in the western city of Lviv. St. Michael's cathedral has for years kept a copy of the icon, which survived a fire set by arsonists in 1998.   Paraskeva Nahorniak, 65, who works in the church, hopes to be among the first Ukrainian believers to see John Paul when he arrives to bless this little church upon arrival Saturday.   About 1 million people are expected to attend papal masses in Kyiv and about 2 million in the western city of Lviv, a Catholic stronghold. It is the pope's first visit to Ukraine, and his 94th foreign trip.  Get the printable page

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