Three days long Nationwide pilgrimage of Ukrainians to Basilica of St. Sophia in Rome began on October 9. The pilgrimage set out with the support and blessing of the Most blessed Patriarch Lyubomyr Huzar on the occasion of 40^th anniversary of the consecration of Basilica of St. Sophia in Rome, the 50^th anniversary of the consecration of the present Ukrainian Papal Institute of the Protective Veil in Rome (at that time Minor Seminary), the 65^th death anniversary of the God’s Servant Metropolitan Andrey and the 25^th death anniversary of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj.

On October 9, pilgrims gathered in Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for Akathist to the Most Holy Mother of God that was chanted by bishops Iryney Bilyk, Canonic of the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Hlib Lonchyna, Apostolic administrator of the Exarchate for Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain and Josaphate Oleh Hovera, Lutsk Exarch in concelebration with UGCC priests. 

In the end of the prayer father Dr. Ivan Muzychka gave a speech, in which he underlined that Basilica of St. Sophia in Rome always has been the source of the theological thought for the Greek-Catholic Church. “When St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv was closed during the communist regime, Sophia in Rome was nursing the theological thought.”      

Press-center of the UGCC in Italy