Church of st. mary magdalen in lviv with jumping music in the background

THE CHURCH OF MARIA MAGDALEN IN THE VOVES WITH SCORE MUSIC IN THE COVER

One of the oldest and most beautiful Latin temples of Lviv - the church of St Mary Magdalene robbed by communists and inactive not returned parish. Deprived of torn bell towers, the crosses service the Ukrainians as the “ performance Hall at Stiepana Bandera Street”.

On the another hand, the erstwhile residence of the metropolitans of the Lviv Roman-Catholic Church managed to recover thanks to the visit of the Holy Father John Paul II in Ukraine in 2001.

This is the only object returned to the Catholic community in Lviv since Ukraine gained sovereignty. Almost everything was robbed in the dark past of russian communism in Lviv.

Of the more than 30 churches, only 2 were left: the Cathedral of the presumption of the Virgin Mary and the Church of St. Anthony.

The Church of Rzymsko-Catholics of the Ukrainians has been reformed on the mediate Ages by the Church of Relieves (Tables) on the Elevation of Churches.

After the fall of russian domination in Lviv, Ukrainian authorities replaced the robbed churches with a “medieval church” by placing cast iron reliefs on their facades – boards informing about the Orthodox church established in the mediate Ages.
Besides, not only as proof of the robbery, but besides as an action to deprive the city of Semper Fidelis of its centuries-old Polishness.
In addition, the Ukrainian authorities, despite the noisy declarations not only that they did not give the rightful owners of churches in Lviv, but did not grant a single game for construction.

The Lviv metropolitan residence is being renovated indefinitely. A dense grid of scaffolding has been in place for years, covering its architecture.

The devastate of the Bishop's Palace began with the russian occupation. After the Red Army troops were stationed in it 300 cars of manure and garbage were removed from it.

The docks, doors and windows were chopped and burned. In the chapel russian soldiers arranged a latrine.

The Roman Catholic Church, under the call of St Mary Magdalene, appeared in the western part of present-day Ukraine in the 13th century under the regulation of the Halickian Rürykowicz line.

The Franciscan and Dominican orders began their first mission. From the very beginning, the Church in Russia was traditionally identified with Polishness.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the Church in this part of Russia which was found in the Russian Empire, operated and developed without hindrance. From that point on, however, the Russian government began anti-ecclesiastical activity by closing down many churches, confiscating church property.
These efforts continued to increase in the period under Bolshevik rule. In 1939, the peculiar services arrested all Roman Catholic priests from the diocese of Kamycka and Żytomierska, beginning mass deportations of Poles to Kazakhstan.

After the Second planet War, erstwhile the majority of Poles were resettled into the borders of the Polish People's Republic, any Poles remained in the Ukrainian Socialist russian Republic.

From 1948 to 1953 another wave of repression came. The Latin Cathedral and St. Anthony's Church remained in operation in Lviv, and until 1962 the church under St. Mary Magdalene.

The Roman Catholic church at St. Mary Magdalene's in Lviv is situated at the confluence of the streets of Leon Sapiecha and Sykstuska. Genesis dates back to the 17th century. It was planted in Renaissance and Baroque style. The church was consecrated in 1758. Inside was built the main altar and 9 side altars.

In absidence of the church there is simply a wall altar setting covered with art from around 1608 depicting scenes from the life of St Mary Magdalene.

At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, a fresh altar mensage of marble and alabaster with sculptures of angels was erected. From the very beginning, the hosts of the church and the adjacent monastery were OO. Dominican.

The Bolshevik authorities in Lviv closed the church in 1962, hosting a youth club there, and then a music area that inactive works.

Some of the church's equipment was destroyed by the Bolsheviks. The Baptistery has been converted to toilets (contaminated, stinking, not cleaned, not operated, without toilet paper, operating until today).
The Ukrainian authorities have not yet returned the temple of the Roman Catholic parish seized by the Bolsheviks, despite many efforts and appeals in this region from various parts of the world.

The seized temple has been in alien pagan hands for 46 years. After Bolsheviks, Ukrainians are heirs! They desecrate the temple as the Bolsheviks did!

The faithful in contempt of the authorities are persistently attending the services. The parish priest of the church was the heroic Bishop Leon Mały (now Fr Włodzimierz Kuśnier) who bravely repelled all attacks e.g. the manager of the Opera and Chamber Music Building, as the church is officially called.

Crossroad stations have been removed from the nave of the main church!

In my correspondence with Lviv “Low Downs and Troubles” of the day
11-13 April 2008 in Chicago's regular Courier, and in the sparkry.pl I described behind the quarterly "Cracovia Leopolis"/ no. 3/2006 / a shameful communicative that happened in the church of St Mary Magdalene at the end of May 2006.

The parish priest, Bishop Leon Mały, sent a letter to the parishioners about a performance related to the celebration of “Days of Krakow” in Lviv.

The performance was not held in the church due to the fact that the parishioners blocked the place in front of the main altar, and the Kraków artists refused to accept the performance at this place.

The manager of the home of Organ Music (i.e. the Church of St. Mary Magdalene) J. Winnicki sent a card to Mr. Joseph – the church in St. Mary Magdalene as follows:
"Dear Mr. Joseph 3 – 4 June at 17 hours concerts on the altar. Take your hands with respect, J. Winnicki,"

“Maneli” are objects of spiritual worship, including crosses. The parishioners so addressed the parish priest Bishop Leon Mały with a proposal to prevent profanation and stand up for the sanctity of the altar and crosses.

Given the sanctity of the matter, Fr Leon Mały informed the manager that on the altar of concerts it could not be, due to the fact that this is simply a holy place.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed until today. The church of St Mary Magdalene did not return to the Polish parish.

Senator Richard Bender made an appeal to Minister Radosław Sikorski published in “Our Poland” No. 40 of 30 September 2008. The appeal includes the title “Stalinism in Lviv”.

Here is the content of the appeal:
"Poles in Lviv have only 2 temples: St. Anthony's Cathedral and Church.

Still, despite repeated promises, Poles cannot recover the church of St Mary Magdalene. It is simply a temple where Poles have prayed since the beginning of the 17th century. It is simply a mortgage property existing at the parish church. Her parish priest is Fr Leon Mały, suffragan of the Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Latin rite in Lviv.
This property was confirmed by the authoritative paper of 13 December 2004 published in the illustrated calendar of that parish for 2008.

All the time, however, the church of St Mary Magdalene is not under the authority of the parish and the parish priest has no anticipation of having it.

The fronton of the temple will “get” many plaques indicating in Ukrainian that it is the Building of Organ and Chamber Music.

Almost all day in the temple (presbytery with an altar separates the veil) there are rehearsals of the orchestra, and musical concerts not only of classical but besides of jumping music.

From the main nave where concerts are held, the administration of the Organ and Chamber Music Building removed the stations of the Way of the Cross.

A concession recently, for the parishioners, it is possible to celebrate Mass ...At erstwhile after each Mass, participants must not only sweep the level of the full church, but besides wash.

In an effort to reconstruct normality in the church of St Mary Magdalene, a Polish number in Lviv, faithful to this temple, in March 2007 they locked themselves in the church and starved.

The hunger was interrupted after the administration was assured that the church of St Mary Magdalene would cease to be mainly the Building of Organ and Chamber Music, return to the parish, will again be only a place of spiritual worship.

Time has shown that these were false assurances. late this summertime there have been further restrictions on this temple.

On 22 July 2008, the Lviv visited the Fathers of Paulini of Jasna Góra.

They gave the Church of St Mary Magdalene a copy of the painting of Our woman of Czestochowa. It was placed in the chancel separated by a veil from the main nave.

The parish priest, Fr Leon Mały, Fr Mieczysław Mokrzycki, the co-adjutor of the Metropolitan of Fr Cardinal Marian Jaworski, and the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Lviv Wiesław Osuchowski, attended the solemn presentation of the image of Jasna Góra Madonna to the church.

The Lviv authorities of the event related to the introduction of a copy of the image of woman Jasna Góra to the Building of Organ and Chamber Music, as the church of St Mary Magdalene is officially called, declared a violation of the law.

The faithful are troubled, horrified by the spreading news in the city, the information that a judicial investigation has been undertaken against the parish priest of the church of St Mary Magdalene, Bishop Leon Małe.

Fr Leon Mały do MFA:

“...by many faithful from the parish, by passersby, I was asked to present the substance of St Mary Magdalene Church in the legislature of Poland last period in Lviv.

Therefore, I ask you to hold an interview with the ambassador of the Republic of Ukraine in Poland, to call him to the Ministry of abroad Affairs in diplomatic terms and to request authoritative explanations of what is happening to the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Lviv, and what will be his future?
Minister, the restoration of the temple to the faithful, the Polish number in Lviv, will encourage friendly Polish-Ukrainian relations and hopefully will aid to heal painful injuries from the past.”

Bożena Rafalska,Alina Borkowska – Szumańska, Aleksander Szumański "Lwowskie Spotknia".

REPRESENTATION OF RELIEF PARAFIA UNDER THE CALLED SHU. MARIA MAGDALENE

Faithful parishes of St Mary Magdalene in Lviv defend the church, which they do not want to return to them. They announce protests and call on the Polish authorities to intervene against discrimination against Polish minorities in Lviv.

Hunger protest of the parishioners group in spring 2007

“The Lviv authorities have been fighting the Roman Catholic community in the city for years,” says Emilia Chmielowa, president of the Federation of Polish Organizations in Ukraine.

The outrage of the parishioners and Poles from Lviv sparked a resolution of the city councillors on 11 March, who gave the church on Stepana Bandery 8 (former Leon Sapieha Street) free of charge at the disposal of the organ and chamber music area for 20 years. The parishioners have been fighting for years to return the temple that was taken from them in the times of the russian Union, and the authorities of independent Ukraine do not want to give them the rightful property. The church has served Poles for 400 years. Although president Leonid Kuczma and later Viktor Yushchenko declared a fast return of the church to the parishioners, the Lviv authorities do not want to hear about it. “The talks are conducted at different levels but it is hard to agree with the city authorities,” admits Grzegorz Opaliński, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Lviv. The last resolution of the councillors of Lviv undermines the diplomatic procedures conducted by the consulate and Roman Catholic hen in Lviv.

In an appeal signed by more than 500 faithful, we read that the needs of the Roman Catholic parish community and the many years' efforts to return or benefit on equal terms from its legitimate property were not taken into account. The faithful point out that the Councillors of Lviv adopted a resolution without waiting for the court to be decided on the substance of Mary Magdalene Church. They believe that the last resolution of city councillors is an effort to make facts accomplished.

— We no longer want to pray secretly in our church, says “Rz” Halina Makowska, 1 of the parishioners active in the fight for the return of the temple. He believes that the Polish number in Lviv is discriminated against by local authorities. He besides resents the Polish authorities that they do not respond to the anti-Polish behaviour of the Lviv authorities. “We are not a worse community and we request that the Polish authorities act in our defence, as they do in the case of Andelika Boris and the Union of Poles in Belarus,” Halina Makowska says. “Let the destiny of Poles in Lviv interest the European Parliament,” he adds.

It was Halina Makowska precisely 3 years ago that she was the first to enter a hunger protest in the church of Mary Magdalene. The Directorate of the Organ Hall, which is located in the church, did not let believers to attend the Lenten retreat. The faithful were forbidden from entering the church, and the entrances were guarded by the cleaning service. The faithful, together with the auxiliary bishop Leon Mały, gathered at the cross hung on the entrance door and sang “We want God”. During this time, a performance was held in the temple for soldiers and their families. A group of believers spent respective days on hunger. The then Consul General Wiesław Osuchowski intervened, who demanded the immediate return of the church to the parishioners. The faithful interrupted their hunger only at the request of Cardinal Marian Jaworski, the metropolitan of Lviv. The city authorities assured the metropolitan that the temple would shortly be settled. Meanwhile, organ hall manager Julian Winnicki has been saying for years that he is the owner of the facility. Poles are accused of causing political unrest. The manager does not even let the thought of his institution moving out of the church. Officially he does not even say that it is simply a church, but the home of Organ Music, which is erstwhile a day made available to the faithful to execute the service. He proposes that the parish sign an agreement with him to usage the Organ Hall. “We will never agree to this due to the fact that this church has served Poles for 400 years,” says Halina Makowska.

A week ago, church retreat was again threatened. The parish priest Fr Włodzimierz Kuśnier spoke in December last year for approval to carry them out. A fewer days before the retreat, manager Winnicki informed the faithful that a performance and choir rehearsal would take place during this time. “ It was only after our intervention that the authorities agreed to the Lenten retreat,” says Opaliński Consul.

The conflict around St. Mary Magdalene's Church in Lviv has continued since the early 1990s. After the uprising of independent Ukraine, Poles from Lviv were pleased to have a church taken from them by the russian authorities in 1962. Although the Roman Catholic parish of St. Mary Magdalene was entered in the registry in 1991, the church remained a secular object, subordinate to the City Council of Lviv. Authorities renamed him as an organ music performance hall. However, concerts organized there are boycotted by the Polish community and consulate. “We appeal to Polish artists not to accept invitations to concerts in this church, due to the fact that they only harm the recovery of our temple,” says Mary Magdalene. They explain that all stay in the church of an orchestra or choir the manager uses to show that it is not a temple but a performance hall.

Masses can only be celebrated erstwhile a day, and in the morning. The parish must get approval for each additional service. They cannot usage organs, keep any items in the church, and the road to the makeshift sacristy leads next to the toilets, which were furnished in the Baptistery with frescoes of John Henry Rozen. The church towers were stripped of crosses and the figure of Our woman was removed from the square. Not only are organ concerts organized in the church, but besides sponsored events, and advertising is displayed on the walls. On 11 November 2007, an amateur choir performance dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the UPA was held there on the independency Day.

After the visit of the Holy Father John Paul II to Ukraine in 2001, it seemed that a parish of 900 faithful would yet regain their church. Ukrainian president Leonid Kuczma after this visit issued a decree that all sacral buildings requisitioned in russian times are to be returned to the communities to which they belonged. Viktor Yushchenko besides issued a akin order. Despite the appeals of the faithful, the presidential decrees were not executed. Before the war there were 30 Roman Catholic churches in Lviv. In russian times, only the 2 of them could pray. Since Ukraine regained its independence, no of the temples have been returned to the Roman Catholic faithful.