Lviv authorities to restore Memorial Plaque to Patriarch Joseph Slipy
As reported, a memorial plaque to Patriarch Joseph Slipy, erected in 2005 was recently removed in Kharkiv. It was on the wall of what was once the Kharkiv prison where in the 1960s the Patriarch, a prisoner of conscience for 18 years, was held while being taken to Siberia.
Three years after it was put up in 2005, the plaque was smashed by vandals. It was then restored, however in autumn 2010 the Dzherzynsky District Court ruled that it had been put up unlawfully, without being agreed with the city authorities, Despite the appeals from Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Head of the Greek-Catholic Church and many others, the plaque was taken down. The Religious Information Service of Ukraine reports that the Head of the organization which had sort its removal, “Great Rus”, was instructed to “remove” it. After the plaque was taken down, members of that illustrious organization smashed it.
The Lviv City Council has now set to restoring the memorial plaque. The Council’s Press Service reports Mayor Sadovy as saying that he has spoken with the Kharkiv Region Governor, M. Dobkin who expressed regret over the destruction by chauvinists of the plaque. “We agreed that Lviv will at its own expense prepare this plaque and the Kharkiv authorities will ensure that it is put up legally”.
Patriarch Joseph Slipy (17.02.1892 – 7.09.1984 was an outstanding Ukrainian Church and public figure, the Patriarch of the Greek Catholic Church, a scholar and theologian.
More information can be found here: http://archive.khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1113997592
From a report at RISU