Ukrainian Catholics Regain Cathedral

St. George’s Cathedral in Lvov has been returned to Ukrainian Catholics after being used by the Russian Orthodox Church for more than 40 years, according to an announcement by Ukrainian Catholic officials in Rome.

The announcement from the temporary see in Rome of the Archeparchy of Lvov said the transfer of the cathedral was authorized April 6 by a 124-6 vote of the newly elected city council of Lvov. It said the Orthodox Church was told to vacate the cathedral and its entire complex of buildings by last Thursday and to relocate to the Latin-rite Church of St. Nicholas in Lvov.

“This is a joyous day for the Ukrainian Catholic Church,” said Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky, who has headed the worldwide Ukrainian Catholic community from Rome since 1985. “Our prayers have been answered, and we thank God for his mercy upon our people.”

The Cathedral of St. George was built between 1744 and 1770 on the site of an earlier church. The bell of the older church, which was cast in 1341 and is the oldest in the Ukraine, remains in the cathedral’s bell tower.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church, also known as the Uniate Church, was forcibly disbanded under Stalin in 1946. Last October, Ukrainian Catholics took over the Transfiguration Cathedral in Lvov in what Russian Orthodox leaders said was a violent seizure, but Ukrainian Catholics described it as a change that was agreed upon by the cathedral congregation.