Of . – 11.24.2022 11:41 (act. 11.24.2022 11:41)
Numerous dioceses in Austria commemorate the victims of the “Holodomor” on Saturday. ©Portal/Gleb Garanich (subject)
On Saturday, Masses will be held with bishops in several Austrian dioceses to commemorate the “Holodomor”. Kathpress reports.
“Holodomor” refers to the famine (“hunger murder”) of 1932/33 in Ukraine. This was deliberately provoked by the Soviets to weaken the rich Ukrainian peasants (“kulaks”) and force them to join the kolkhozes and sovkhozes.
Dioceses of Austria commemorate victims of “Holodomor” on Saturday
According to estimates, Soviet repression claimed around eight million victims in Ukraine alone. In 1933, the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Theodor Innitzer (1875-1955), was one of the few representatives of the West who campaigned for famine victims. In November 2019, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn and the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk, unveiled a commemorative plaque in the Archbishop’s Palace in Vienna as a thank you and reminder. Every year, on or around November 24th, victims of the “Holodomor” are commemorated in Ukraine and many other countries.
Cardinal Schönborn and Metropolitan Arsenios invite you to celebrate in Vienna
In Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Arsenios (Kardamakis) and the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Austria, Wassyl Chymynez, invite you to an ecumenical commemoration in St. Stephen’s Cathedral on Saturday, November 26, at 6 pm. In addition to the vicar general of the Eastern Church Yuriy Kolasa and parish priest Toni Faber, priests from the Ukrainian Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities and representatives of the Ukrainian Protestant communities in Vienna will also participate in the prayer. After the service, candles are lit in memory of the victims. Representatives of the Austrian government and parliament, as well as the diplomatic corps, are also expected, according to the dispatch of the Ordinariat of the Eastern Church.
Lackner invites you to “Prayer for the Victims” in Salzburg
In Salzburg, Archbishop Franz Lackner, together with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic congregation, invites you to “pray for the victims then and now” in the church of St. Mark (Franz-Josef-Kai 21) at 5 pm. “Millions of innocent people died during the Holodomor, the famine of which Stalin was fully aware. 90 years later, we hear again terrible news from Ukraine, and again children, women, the elderly and the sick are threatened,” said Archbishop Lackner. The archbishop warns that a winter of war is coming, the likes of which has not been seen in Europe for decades, adding: “The celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace is imminent. Let us always pray for peace, let us forget the victims of war and not of terror .”
Commemoration of the “Holodomor” also in the Old Cathedral of Linz
In Linz, Bishop Manfred Scheuer invites you to the Old Cathedral (Ignatiuskirche, Domgasse 3) at 7 pm. In Klagenfurt, the service will take place at 18:00 in the church of St. Annabichl (Thomas-Schmid-Gasse 10), where the local Ukrainian Catholic community has recently moved.
In Innsbruck, Bishop Hermann Glettler invites at 5.30 pm to the Ukrainian community church in the Canisianum dormitory (Tschurtschenthalerstraße 7). Finally, in Feldkirch, the service with Bishop Benno Elbs will take place at 5 pm in the cathedral (Domplatz 6).