A new Orthodox youth newspaper appears in the Crimea

February 2015

A new Orthodox newspaper will appear in the Sevastopol Deanery. Now, in addition to the Svetlyachok (“Firefly”) and Khersonessky Vestnik (“the Chersonese Bulletin”) newspapers, so popular among the Orthodox readers, a new newspaper, Utro Sevastopolya (“the Sevastopol Morning”), will be issued. It will be a youth appendix to the Khersonessky Vestnik, reports the deanery’s press service.

The newspaper is published with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Lazarus of Simferopol and the Crimea. The editor-in-chief of the new edition is Archpriest Sergy Khalyuta, dean of the Sevastopol district, the publishing editor is Artemy Slezkin.

Utro Sevastopolya is aimed at young people aged 17-30, but the editors hope that some materials will be interesting for older readers.

What is the new newspaper like? It is a stapled A3 format with 12 columns and a full-color glossy cover, front and back. 3,000 copies have been printed of the first issue. The newspaper is fully financed by the Sevastopol Deanery, and will be distributed free of charge. Since January 23 the newspaper has been available in the hall of the St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in the Chersonese.

What kind of young people may be interested in the new edition? First of all, those who are not indifferent to what is going on around, who do not wish to swim with the muddy tide which sweeps the young away into the chasm of passion and vice, who think about the meaning of their lives, who are not indifferent to such things as “patriotism,” “a strong family,” or “healthy children.”

It is planned that the newspaper will become a great help to those Orthodox young people who want to serve the Mother Church. They will find in the newspaper many missionary materials that may be of use to them. For example, they can cut out missionary leaflets, posters, flyers, spread them through churches, educational establishments where they study. It is planned to open the new newspaper’s official website in the future which will contain all its materials, including missionary leaflets, booklets, posters that all those willing will be able to download for further dissemination.

“Utro Sevastopolya is a newspaper which will write about the experience of spiritual life as well as people’s experience of keeping their purity. It will teach the youth to observe the Lord’s commandments, and about true love that God has given us. Not the passionate love that young people often talk about, but genuine spiritual love, which forms our lives. This is why we are creating a newspaper for young people: in order to enter their world and life and to bring them the true light of Christ,” relates Archpriest Sergy Khalyuta in the first issue of the newspaper.

Source: