Ukrainian Catholics pack Michigan church to celebrate Easter as war continues back home
Nearly a thousand parishioners with ties to Ukraine gathered at a church in Hamtramck, Michigan, for services on Easter Sunday, celebrating the day Jesus rose from the dead while worrying about the war ravaging their home country.
The 9:30 a.m. Easter Mass at the Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church, which was conducted entirely in Ukrainian, was packed, with every crevice of the church filled with worshippers. Easter symbolizes renewal and rebirth for Christians and Catholics, representing hope and new beginnings.
Andrii Kubyk-Bohumil, 40, of Madison Heights, attended the service with his wife and 8-year-old son. He said he has been attending services at the church since October 2022, when he immigrated to the U.S.
"We celebrate today, but it is a strange feeling," Kubyk-Bohumil said. "One moment we are happy, one moment we are not. ... It hurts when we see our people dying."
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter truce in Ukraine from Saturday morning to midnight Easter Sunday, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Sunday of creating a false appearance of honoring an Easter ceasefire, saying Moscow continued to launch attacks, according to the Associated Press.
President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are "coming to a head" and insisted that neither side is "playing" him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.
Vasyl Perets, the choir director at Immaculate Conception, who lives in Shelby Township and serves as the honorary consulate of Ukraine in Detroit, said that while he was feeling great due to the Easter holiday, he is always worried about Ukraine.
However, Perets remains optimistic that the war will come to an end.
"I believe things will be alright," Perets said after Sunday's mass. "I think everything is going to be all right, but it's scary. Patience is everything.
He said the church at McDougall Street and Commor Avenue in Hamtramck is packed to its 600-person capacity every Sunday, with standing room only.
On Easter, worshipers packed the pews, the standing areas beside and behind the pews and stood in the lobby and outside. Several dozen parents and children were also in the church's basement.
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Hamilton Spectator
31 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
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8 hours ago
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May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way. … I'm sorry for all the trouble this has caused," he wrote in messages viewed by the AP. Advertisement Armed FBI agents search for an active shooter, sweeping a neighborhood adjacent to the home of Minnesota DFL State Representative Melissa Hortman, in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Alex Kormann/Associated Press Two Democrats targeted Police first responded to reports of gunfire at the Hoffmans' home shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday and found the couple with multiple gunshot wounds. Local police from Brooklyn Park were assisting with the call and decided to proactively check on Hortman's home nearby, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said Saturday. There, they encountered what appeared to be a police vehicle and a man dressed as an officer leaving the house. Officers confronted him, he fired at them and officers returned fire. The suspect then retreated back into the home and fled on foot, Bruley said. He left behind the vehicle designed to look like a police car where authorities later found writings. On social media, Gov. Tim Walz remembered Hortman Sunday as, 'The most consequential Speaker in state history.' Hortman, 55, had been the top Democratic leader in the state House since 2017. She led Democrats in a three-week walkout at the beginning of this year's session in a power struggle with Republicans. Under a power-sharing agreement, she turned the gavel over to Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth and assumed the title speaker emerita. Police deploy as a manhunt is underway for a shooter that targeted two state lawmakers, in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Tim Sullivan/Associated Press Hortman used her position as speaker in 2023 to champion expanded protections for abortion rights, including legislation to solidify Minnesota's status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who travel to the state to seek abortions — and to protect providers who serve them. The couple had two adult children. Hoffman, 60, was first elected in 2012 and was chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, which oversees one of the biggest parts of the state budget. He and his wife have one adult daughter. Karnowski reported from Minneapolis, and Balsamo and Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Washington; Jim Mustian in New York; Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, N.C., contributed. Advertisement
