A woman and girl attend an Easter egg painting class held in a bomb shelter in Lviv. More than a third of Ukraine’s population is displaced by Russia’s invasion. / Mykola Tys / Getty Images
Celebrating Easter in Ukraine
Celebrating Easter in Ukraine
‘It's beautiful that what is celebrated in the church is in symphony with what people see around themselves.’
Pavlo Smytsnyuk is former director of the Institute of Ecumenical Studies at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. He spoke with Sojourners’ Mitchell Atencio.
UKRAINE IS, IN A WAY, a very pluralistic country. Nobody has an absolute majority. The Orthodox are the biggest group of believers, but they are divided into two jurisdictions — one that is independent and another one that depends, to a bigger or smaller degree, on Russia and the patriarchate of Moscow. Around 10 percent of the Ukrainian population are Catholic, mostly Eastern Catholic, and follow the same calendar and liturgy as the Orthodox. One to 2 percent are Latin Rite Catholics, and 1 to 2 percent are Protestant.
Easter, in the Orthodox Church as probably every Christian church, is perhaps the biggest holiday. Easter is the feast of the community. Now, with the war, you were unable to celebrate the Easter vigil at night because of the curfew. People were afraid to have a huge gathering because it would’ve been a potential target for Russian artillery.
During Lent, people would be fasting ... not eating meat or cheese or eggs. On Easter, people bring these foods to be blessed in the church. But they couldn’t; so the church leaders decided, okay, then people can bless them in their homes. And, of course, the egg is the main food, the main symbol.
It’s beautiful that what is celebrated in the church is in symphony with what people see around themselves. When Easter comes [in Ukraine], it’s a moment of spring. Everything around you is changing. This idea of food for blessing is also a science of connectedness between the spiritual and material. Christ is transforming not only the spiritual, but the material. God transforms the creation and creation belongs to God. It’s part of a divine economy, a divine project.
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Pavlo Smytsnyuk is former director of the Institute of Ecumenical Studies at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.
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