The first Orthodox place of worship built in Warsaw in the last hundred years was consecrated on Sunday.
The “Hagia Sophia” Church is a replica of the basilica of the same name built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in Constantinople and has been dedicated to the victims of the Communist regime: those deported, imprisoned and killed because they were undesirable to the atheist political regime forcibly installed by the Soviets after World War II.
Metropolitan Sawa celebrated the Divine Liturgy and officiated the consecration service, joined by all the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Poland.
“It is through the help of God and the zeal of our faith that today we can enjoy spiritual and material achievements by the consecration of this church and regularly celebrate St. Liturgy, which sanctifies man and the world around him, unites him with God and with other people,” said the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Poland.
The homily was delivered by Archbishop Jerzy of Wrocław and Szczecin, who said: “This is a great historical day, it is the triumph of the martyrdom of the Orthodox Church in Poland, which lost about two hundred churches”.
During the ceremony, a message from the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, was read out and diplomas and medals were awarded to supporters and benefactors.
The event was attended by representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, the Polish Ecumenical Council, the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy, central and local authorities, members of the diplomatic corps from the Polish capital, faithful from Warsaw and numerous pilgrims from all over the country.
- Six choirs sang in seven languages: Slavonic, Polish, Greek, Georgian, Akhmar (Ethiopian), Aramaic and English. Meanwhile, pilgrims were able to honour fragments of the relics brought to this church: those of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem and the Child-Martyr Gabriel of Białystok.
This year, His Beatitude Sawa of Poland has recently turned 85 and, at the end of the month, he will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his enthronement as Primate of the Orthodox Church of Poland.
That is why, at the end of the consecration service, Archbishop Abel of Lublin and Chełm presented him, on behalf of the Holy Synod, with a set of liturgical vestments and a commemorative album dedicated to his entire activity.
Efforts to build the “Hagia Sophia” Church in Warsaw, a project initiated by Metropolitan Sawa, began a decade ago. The actual work took almost eight years.
The foundation stone was consecrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on December 5, 2015, and the cross on the main dome was laid on May 19, 2018. The shrine is located in the Ursynów district of Warsaw.
According to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Poland, the consecration of the church inaugurated the series of events dedicated to the one-century anniversary of autocephaly.
Photo credit: Orthodox.pl / Jaroslaw Charkiewicz, Oleksandr Rudyi
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