Today, at St Andrew's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lidcombe (Sydney, Australia) we honoured the memory of those who fell under the order of Yanukovych and his cronies, using the forces of Berkut and apparently Moscow's FSB sharpshooters to murder over one hundred demonstrators who had spent some 3 months in the cold of the northern winter, protesting on the Maidan seeking a better life, a democratic way of life, not just for themselves but for the whole nation of Ukraine. These 100 killed, became known as the Heavenly Hundred and, the continued protests saw Yanukovych flee Ukraine to settle in Russia... The vast majority of the killings took place over the period 18 - 20 February, and the date of 20 Feb has been marked by President Poroshenko as a Day of Remembrance. Today in far away Sydney, Australia we too remembered...

The Ambassador of Ukraine, HE Dr Mykola Kulinich who laid a wreath to honour those who fell for their country. Fr Simon Ckuj, the parish priest of St Andrews officiated at the Commemorative Service - Panachyda, which was solemnly sung by the church choir under the baton of Vasyl Opryshko. Many thanks to all organisations who took part to lay a wreath or flowers, flag bearers and the Altar boys. A special thanks to the children of St Andrew's Ukrainian School, to the youth of CYM (Ukrainian Youth Association) and Plast (Ukrainian Scouts) for their very active participation in laying a flower to remember. And many thanks to all the parishioners who filed past the Commemorative Cross to lay a flower... It should also be noted that the Commemorative Cross of the Heavenly Hundred, was blessed by the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Eminence Archbishop Sviatoslav during his visit to the parish in September 2014.