20 years of struggle: St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv to be transferred to the Catholic community
14 March 06:49
The Dnipropetrovs’k District Administrative Court ordered the Ministry of Culture to fulfill the presidential order of 2005 to return St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv to the religious community. This was reported by the parish of St. Nicholas on Facebook, Komersant ukrainskyi reports
It is noted that the court declared the inaction of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications and “failure to fulfill the Order of the President of Ukraine of 09.12.2005, exh. №1-1/1381”.
In the operative part of the decision, the court ordered the Ministry of Culture to fulfill the presidential order. In 2005, by a decree of President Viktor Yushchenko, the government and local authorities were instructed to take the necessary steps to transfer St. Nicholas Church to the community. Despite clear instructions, the order was never fulfilled.
Father Pavlo Vyshkovsky, the rector of St. Nicholas Parish, emphasized that the fact that the church has not yet been returned to the religious community is not only a violation of the rights of the parish, but also a deception of more than 25 thousand citizens who signed a petition in support of the transfer of the church more than a year ago.
As reported, in 2021, the Ministry of Culture promised that the church would be returned to the community on June 1, 2022. However, this did not happen.
And in 2023, the Ministry of Culture promised that St. Nicholas Church would be transferred to the use of the parish of the Roman Catholic Church after the necessary changes to the legislation and the creation of the National House of Music.
What is known about St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv
St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv is a Roman Catholic church in Kyiv, one of the two Roman Catholic churches in the city built before 1917. It is located in the center of Kyiv on Velyka Vasylkivska Street.
The church was built in 1899-1909 in the Neo-Gothic style by Ukrainian and Polish architect Władysław Horodecki, designed by S. Walowski (or Wolowski). Permission to build the church was granted by Count Władysław Michał Piotr Branicki, who also provided funds for the construction.
In 1936, the Soviet authorities stopped worship in the church. The crosses, bells, sculptures, and some stained glass windows were removed from the building, possibly transferring them (as well as icons and utensils) to the Kyiv Film Studio as props for films.
on March 21, 1938, it was closed. Since then, the building has been used as a warehouse.
in 1943, a fire broke out, with possible causes including a fire in the church or Soviet shelling. As a result, the interiors were damaged, and the first organ burned down.
Three years later, after repairs, the Kyiv Regional Archives occupied the building. Part of the space inside was occupied by jamming systems for “enemy” Western radio stations, and the system’s antennas were hung outside on the church’s towers.
in 1954, the building’s façade was subjected to priority repair and restoration work. From 1956 to 1963 the church was an architectural monument.
In 1978, by order of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, the church building was given to the Kyiv House of Organ and Chamber Music, which was opened in 1979. For this purpose, a Rieger-Kloss organ was ordered from Czechoslovakia. In 1981, the restoration was completed, and in the same year a concert hall was opened in the church.
on September 29, 1991, the first service was held, and on January 4, 1992, the church was consecrated again, with Bishop Jan Purvinsky performing the ceremony. in 2001, the church was visited by Pope John Paul II.
Since Ukraine’s independence, St. Nicholas Church has been shared by the National House of Organ and Chamber Music of Ukraine as a concert venue and the St. Nicholas Parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, which holds services for the religious community. The authorities refused to hand over the premises to the Roman Catholic Church until the issue of the new location of the Organ Hall was resolved.
The building was in a state of disrepair. The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine planned to implement a project to build a House of Music in Kyiv by the end of 2023 and move the National House of Organ and Chamber Music of Ukraine to it.
The fire that decided the fate of the church
On the evening of September 3, 2021, a fire broke out in the church. As a result of the fire, which spread to two floors of the church and the roof, the roof of the building was severely damaged, and the unique organ, made of metal and expensive black and mahogany wood, completely burned down. The main version of the fire is that the electrical wires inside the wooden case of the organ, which was more than 40 years old, caught fire. No one was injured in the fire.
A day after the fire, Ukrainian companies donated UAH 18 million to restore the church. According to a preliminary estimate by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the restoration of the church was to cost UAH 75 million, with the rest of the money to be provided by the state.
on December 20, 2024, the church building was damaged by the debris of downed missiles during a combined strike on Kyiv by Russian aggressors. The facade and the central stained-glass window in the shape of a Gothic rose were damaged. The blast wave destroyed the window frames of the stairwells leading to the spires of the north and south towers, known as the Khrestotsvity.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, the church is to be restored according to authentic drawings. Therefore, experts are carefully drawing up acts and updating project documentation that will form the basis for the further restoration program.
