First facsimile edition of the Peresopnytsia Gospel published in Ukraine

The Peresopnytsia Gospel, the holy book on which Ukrainian presidents swear the oath of loyalty, is now available in a thousand copies, thanks to the first facsimile edition published by the ADEF-Ukraina Publishers on the occasion of the 1,020th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus’. The original of the Peresopnytsia Gospel is stored in special conditions and under strengthened security conditions at the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine. This holy book is brought out only when it is time for a newly elected head of state to swear the oath of loyalty.

“We have managed to completely restore the original of this outstanding 16th-century monument. But we will not be selling it. The facsimile copy of the Gospel will be given to patrons who support the construction of the cathedral. This holy book has already been sent to some museums and other cultural institutions. In my opinion, newly-elected presidents of Ukraine should swear the oath of loyalty on a facsimile copy of the Gospel, not on the original, which should be safely stored in order to preserve this huge achievement of the Ukrainian people,” said Ihor Shpak, the head of the ADEF-Ukraina Publishers.

President Viktor Yushchenko and Academician Borys Paton, the head of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, were the first to receive a copy of the Peresopnytsia Gospel. “During the years of Ukrainian independence this Gospel has become its most important symbol. The first complete scholarly edition of this book was published in 2001 through the joint efforts of the Vernadsky National Library, the Ukrainian Language Institute, and the Linguistic- Information Foundation at the National Academy of Sciences. But the facsimile edition, which completely restores the original, has only been published now,” said Academician Paton.

The ADEF-Ukraina Publishers are planning to send a copy of the Peresopnytsia Gospel to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, where it will be stored together with the Constitution of Ukraine. The publishers hope that by looking at this holy book, Ukraine’s parliamentarians will remember their duty to the Ukrainian people with greater frequency.