On Thursday, May 18, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine attended events marking the graduation of the Chaplain School of the Territorial Defense Forces.
The solemn meeting was attended by the commander of the Territorial Defense Forces, Major General Ihor Tansyura, Deputy Head of the Synodal Department of the OCU’s Military Clergy for Cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Archpriest Leontiy Nikytenko, officer with the military chaplaincy service of the Territorial Defense Forces Command Archpriest Serhiy Dmitriev, as well as military personnel, chaplains, and guests, reports the OCU press service.
The Primate of the Autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church addressed the audience and, together with the commander of the TD Forces, took part in handing over graduation certificates to the chaplains.
“All of us are God’s tools so we are called to develop and improve our talents to serve our neighbors. This especially applies to priests who are chaplains. So you, having passed the appropriate training, improved and grew in order to inspire our soldiers- defenders, help them, give them spiritual encouragement and consolation. Also, we should all remember those who sacrificed their lives protecting the gift of freedom and independence given to us by God, and always pray for them. May the Lord help all of us move forward and bring our victory closer,” His Beatitude said.
