Euro 2012 prayer: Ukrainian priest turns church into fan-zone

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Published time: June 13, 2012 11:29
Edited time: June 13, 2012 15:40

Football and religion don’t exactly go together but a priest from Ukraine has decided to attract local youngsters to his church in an extraordinary fashion.

Fans of Euro2012 can now watch football matches on a screen set up inside the church.

Father Taras, of the Greek -Catholic church in the small town of Vyshgorod, says there’s nothing bad about watching a football match inside a shrine.

“It’s a way to make people come to the church more often, so that they can see that a priest is also a person and that one should not be afraid of the church,” he says before adding: “But rules here are strict – swearing, drinking and smoking are prohibited”.

Ukraine together with Poland are hosting the Euro 2012 Cup with various matches being played in Kiev, Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkov.