Address by the Head of the UGCC for the 229th Week of the Full-Scale War, July 5, 2026
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 229th week of this hideous, sacrilegious war, which we know as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukrainian soil. Although we know that this war has been raging for twelve years now, it continues to claim new lives every day and every night, bringing destruction, tears, and bloodshed to our Ukrainian land.
This week was also marked by fierce fighting along the entire front line. Some border villages in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions have been forced to evacuate. The enemy continues to attack our urban infrastructure day and night.
But the greatest tragedy we experienced this week was the massive attack on our capital on the night of July 2. This attack was particularly devastating. Not only was it intense, but residential areas of Kyiv were deliberately targeted with cluster munitions. Cluster munitions are prohibited under international humanitarian law. Yet they were used against the residents of Kyiv.
As of now, we know of about 30 people who have been killed. Three more are reported missing. More than a hundred people have been wounded. Many homes have been destroyed, both in Kyiv and in the Kyiv region.
We express our deepest condolences to the families of all those who have lost their lives. We embrace the wounded with our care and pray for the eternal rest of the innocent victims—women, the elderly, children, all those who were taken from their families, from the family of our Church, and from our people during that night.
At the very time when all these crimes were taking place, a special and grace-filled moment was unfolding in the life of our Church. At the Marian Spiritual Center “Zarvanytsia,” the Synod of Bishops of our Church began its regular annual session. The main theme of this year’s Synod is fostering vocations to the priesthood and religious life in our Church.
Today, many people feel lost, uncertain of their path in life, and at times even lose the meaning of their lives. In the context of war, this uncertainty takes on even greater significance. In the midst of this confusion, our Church proclaims the truth that we are called by the Lord God, who speaks to us and invites us. He has a plan for our salvation and a path to our personal happiness. All we need to do is respond to His call. God calls everyone. He calls everyone to find their own path to Him; He calls everyone to holiness; but He also calls each person to walk their own life’s path within the life of the Church and of our people.
Discerning one’s vocation and life’s path is the task of every young person, but it is also the Church’s duty to accompany and support them. In particular, the Church helps them discern whether the Lord God is calling them to a special consecration, to religious life, or to priestly ministry. Precisely how to serve young women and men so that they may discern their vocation—this question was the focus of the bishops at our Synod. And our Church seeks to serve them; it wants to be there for them.
We have come to see that the following words capture the essence of pastoral care for fostering vocations: “from recruitment to accompaniment.” Your Church, young women and men, wants to walk beside you on your life’s journey; it wants to be by your side. Your priests, our monks, and our nuns want to accompany you and help you discern—and then faithfully live out—your vocation.
And to the whole world we proclaim: Ukraine stands firm, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
Today, Sunday, is a special Day of Remembrance, one that is etched in the hearts of our Church and our people.
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union, inflicting profound wounds on our people. In the prisons of Western Ukraine, the Soviet Communist regime’s repressive authorities executed and systematically massacred some 22,000 people, including prisoners. Among them were members of our intelligentsia, civic and religious leaders, and priests.
One such tragedy entered the history of our people as the Chortkiv-Uman Tragedy. In the city of Chortkiv, in southern Ternopil region, Soviet authorities shot about 900 prisoners that day and then forced nearly a thousand others on a death march from Chortkiv to Uman—a distance of nearly 400 kilometers. The prisoners marched without proper clothing or shoes after enduring brutal torture. Along the way, nearly 200 were shot, and those who reached Uman were all executed in the courtyard of the Uman NKVD headquarters.
This Sunday in Chortkiv, we commemorate the victims of this crime. May our remembrance of them help prevent crimes of this kind from ever happening again. For we see that such crimes—mass killings and the execution of civilians—continue even today wherever Russian occupiers set foot.
We remember so that we may prevent them. We pray and speak out so that the world may learn of these crimes, and so that no one, nowhere, and no nation will ever again experience or endure such atrocities. Therefore, our prayer in memory of the victims is a prayer for peace, a prayer for the healing of the wounds of our historical memory, and for the healing of wounds in relations between peoples.
Today we pray: Jesus, take into Your embrace the innocent victims of Kyiv, the prisoners of Chortkiv prison, and those who perished in prisons throughout what was then Ukraine. And today, bless us with Your just, heavenly peace.
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
