UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF THE USA
CONSISTORY OFFICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
PRESS RELEASE

Victims of Genocidal Famine in Ukraine Remembered!

The walls of the 19th century St. Patrick Cathedral in New York, NY were filled with about 5000 people and solemn chanting of a Memorial service, honouring the memory of about 10 million people, the victims of the artificially created Genocide-Famine in Ukraine of 1932-1933. 

On Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 1:30PM, the Ukrainian community, under the leadership of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) held its now annual requiem service to commemorate the 78th Anniversary of Ukraine’s Genocide of 1932-1933, known in Ukrainian as the Holodomor. The clergy and hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic Churches (His Beatitude Swiatoslaw,  Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; His Eminence Archbishop Antony of the Eastern Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA; His Eminence Metropolitan Stefan Soroka of the Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia; His Grace Bishop Paul Chomytsky and Bishop-Emeritus Basil Losten of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stanford, CT and His Grace Bishop Daniel of the Western Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA) led this year’s Memorial Pahankhyda for the repose of the souls of the millions of innocent victims of the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933. 

Following the requiem service, representatives from the United States government were offered an opportunity to deliver remarks.  Among the speakers were His Eminence Archbishop Antony, the Ruling Hierarch of the Eastern Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, Tamara Gallo Olexy, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, His Beatitude Swiatoslaw, a newly elected Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States of America Olexander Motsyk, His Grace Bishop Paul Chomytsky, Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stanford, CT to name a few.  A statement President Obama in remembrance of the 78th anniversary of the Holodomor was also read. The Dumka Choir, under the direction of maestro Vasyl Hrechynsky chanted solemn responses to a Memorial Panakhyda for the Famine victims. 

The Genocide of 1932-1933 is one of the darkest pages in the history of the Ukrainian nation.  Up to 10 million innocent victims were starved to death through a deliberate Soviet policy aimed at crushing the nationally conscious Ukrainian peasantry.  The Ukrainian Genocide ranks among the worst cases of man’s inhumanity towards man and is perhaps the most extreme example of the use of food as a weapon.