Shroud of Turin in Kyiv
A special train brought one of the few copies of the Shroud of Turin to Kyiv during the paschal week. This precious and unusual Christian relic is a length of ancient linen four meters long and some 1.5 wide marked with the images of a human body both front and back and many traces of blood. Experts insist that these images could not have been created using any known techniques — paints, dyes, charcoal, needlework, weaving, etc. Christians of various confessions have for centuries believed that the body of Christ was wrapped in this shroud by Joseph of Arimathaea and then buried, whereupon His image was miraculously imprinted on the cloth, to remain there over the centuries.
This cloth is called the Shroud of Turin because it has been housed in the chapel adjacent to the cathedral in Turin, Italy (since 1578) because the place provides the best possible storage conditions. Otherwise the ancient linen would have long turned into dust. It is publicly displayed very seldom. The last time was in 2000, to commemorate the Great Jubilee of the Christian Era. There are eight copies of the Shroud, one of which, considered the best, was transferred to Belarus. The train brought the Minsk copy to Ukraine. The press secretariat of the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church informed the public that it was first brought to Lviv and displayed at St. George’s Cathedral (UGCC) and at the Cathedral of the Dormition (Roman Catholic Church of Ukraine). The divine relic arrived in Kyiv on May 3 (Ukrzaliznytsia and the Lviv Railroad Company supplied five train cars free of charge so a group of the faithful could accompany the Shroud to the Ukrainian capital).
At the Kyiv railroad station the relic was met by His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) and the Most Blessed Lubomyr, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. After that a religious procession carried the Shroud all the way to St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral (UOC KP) where the relic was placed near the ambo. It stayed there until May 11 and was then transferred to the Temple of Saint Basil the Great (UGCC) on Voznesensky uzviz. In two months the Shroud will be transported to Donetsk.
After the relic was installed in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral, an ecumenical service was celebrated jointly by Orthodox and Greek Catholic clergy led by His Beatitude Liubomyr Huzar and His Holiness Patriarch Filaret.
When planning the trip of the relic, the organizing committee hoped that the Shroud would help rally Christian churches of different denominations. It happened in Lviv where the Shroud was revered by Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and faithful of other confessions. And now it is happening in Kyiv.
Last weekend, St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral was visited by thousands of Kyivans. Standing in line to pay homage to the relic, one could see different people around, Orthodox, Greek and Catholic believers, intellectuals, tourists, and just ordinary people eager to see the Shroud. The press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, appears to be the sole party dissatisfied with the event.
