Prayers for Prešov

Last Friday a gas explosion ripped through an apartment complex on Mukačevská ulica in the eastern Slovak town of Prešov. Ninety professional and twenty-nine volunteer firefighters were despatched to fight the conflagration, which was successfully extinguished only on Saturday evening. Eight people have died so far; dozens more have lost their homes. It’s one of the worst tragœdies of this sort to afflict Prešov. President Zuzana Čaputová has offered her condolences; Mayor of Prešov Andrea Turčanová has organised a volunteer fund for the victims; and Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini has visited the city and allocated €1,000,000 in government funds for repairs, reconstruction and aid.

Prešov is the largest city of Eastern Slovakia and also the capital of its eponymous region. The Orthodox Christians of Slovakia – overwhelmingly belonging to the Carpatho-Rusin minority – mostly belong to this region. It is home to the former ecclesiastical capital of the Eparchy of Mukačevo and Užhorod (formerly the Eparchy of Mukačevo and Prešov under the Serbian Church), the Cathedral of Saint Aleksandr Nevsky, and it has been important to Orthodoxy since the days of Saints Cyril and Methodius.

If possible, gentle readers, please do contribute something to Ms Turčanová’s emergency fund to aid those who were bereaved or made temporarily homeless by the blast. It should be possible to use the Xoom or Venmo services to donate. The fund account belongs to ČSOB Banka, and the account number is SK90 7500 0000 0040 0859 1229, variable number 6122019. The fund is in the name of the city: Mesto Prešov. And, of course, please keep the people of Prešov, particularly those who are dead or grieving or homeless, in your prayers.