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If the oldest Church in Ukraine - Saint Sophia in Kyiv - is open for
worship services, no Church should not get the exclusive right for it.
The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav has said
about it in an interview for Tsenzor.NET, the Ukrainian news portal.
"Saint Sophia Cathedral is our mother church. And it has been a kind
of discovery for the Ukrainian society: the UGCC is also connected with
Kyiv's Saint-Sophia Cathedral - Saint Sophia Cathedral is the mother
church for all branches of Ukrainian Christianity, all the children of
the Kyiv Church baptized by St. Volodymyr. The exclusive possession of
this temple by only one part of the once united and now divided Kyiv
Church is inappropriate and even dangerous.
That is, we do not mind that this Church is opened for worship
services. But we want Ukrainian society to realize that it is the holy
shrine of all the people.
I would like to mention the Status Quo that applies to the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This place is sacred to all Christians.
Nowadays there is an algorithm to provide access to it for all people.
No one can occupy it exclusively – neither Catholic, nor Orthodox, nor
Armenian, nor Coptic. But the temple is open to all. I think that this
example of Jerusalem is very important for Kyiv, that is called the
second Jerusalem".
Answering the question, whether he does not think it is better that
Saint Sophia Cathedral continues to function exclusively as a museum
since services can destroy thousand-year frescoes and mosaics, the head
of the UGCC said:
"We have great respect and obedience to the voice of art historians
and Ukrainian legislation. Since today this Church is the property of
the Ukrainian state, which has the duty to preserve it. And it is
obvious: when we talk about the probable opening of the temple for
worship, it is art historians and those who are responsible for the
preservation of this shrine who must define conditions and rules, and we
must listen to them. At present, we have been told that it is
impossible to carry out services there because Sofia is closed for
restoration. It is our common interest that the thousand-year temple
with its woderful mosaics and frescoes be preserved."
