UKRAINIAN NATIONAL BANK ISSUES MEMORIAL COIN IN HONOR OF METROPOLITAN WHO ASSISTED FASCISTS
Interfax-Religiia, 15 July 2015
The national bank issued a memorial coin dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the day of the birth of Andrei Sheptitsky, a metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, as part of the series "Outstanding personalities of Ukraine."
As reported on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine on Wednesday, the issue of the coin comprises 30,000 pieces that cost 22 hryvnia each, with a face value of 2 hryvnia (1 hryvnia equals 2.56 rubles).
A. Sheptitsky headed the UGKTs from 1901 to 1944. He consistently fought for the separation of Ukraine from Russia not only administratively but also ecclesiastically. During World War I, A. Sheptitsky advocated that after the occupation of Ukraine by Austrian and German troops, the church in Ukraine be separated from the Russian church. The only way for separation from the Russian church and establishment of a single spiritual center in Ukraine he saw in the Unia.
During the fascist occupation of Ukraine in the 1940s, Metropolitan Andrei welcomed the occupation of Lvov and Kiev by Germans. Repression of Jews, communists, and other "undesirable elements" occurred with the silent approval and blessing of A. Sheptitsky, who participated directly in the formation in 1943 of the SS "Galicia" division. (tr. by PDS, posted 16 July 2015)
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