Arsonists of war, who victimize our Motherland, are attempting to export war worldwide: Head of the UGCC in 87th week of war
Together with the Eastern patriarchs and supreme archbishops of the entire Ecumenical Church, we pray for peace in Ukraine and various world countries that are at war today, particularly in the Holy Land, stated the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in his traditional video address on the 87th week of the full-scale military aggression that Russian criminals brought to the peaceful Ukrainian land.
The Primate noted that Ukraine has been on fire for 600 days. Once again, the enemy is attacking our homeland with all types of weapons at its disposal. Our Avdiivka in Donetsk region has become the center of fire and confrontation on the front line. Russians are constantly firing on our cities and villages in Sumy, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions. The Russian attack on the gymnasium in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovs’k region, was extremely callous. At least three lifeless bodies of our children were pulled from the rubble. Students are being killed at school, at their place of study. And near Beryslav in the Kherson region, the enemy deliberately hit a funeral procession, dropping explosives from a combat drone on a car with a married couple.
“The criminals turn even heat and cold, water, land and air into weapons — everything their murderous hand can reach. But Ukraine is standing! Ukraine is fighting! Ukraine prays!” the Head of the Church emphasized.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that while participating in the Pontifical Synod, which is taking place in the Vatican, he addressed the whole world with a plea to help Ukraine survive the approaching winter. Today, 14 million Ukrainians — a third of our country’s population — have been forced to flee their homes. Of these, 6 million have found themselves outside their homeland, particularly in European countries. Most of them are women and children. Half of Ukrainian emigrants are children under 16, the most vulnerable part of our society.
“I informed the Synod fathers that, according to UN estimates, about 7 million Ukrainians in Ukraine will need urgent food assistance. In addition, regretfully, our country will experience a powerful energy crisis this winter. The Russian aggressor systematically destroys the energy supply to our cities and villages. That is why we have appealed even in the context of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches to protect the sky over Ukraine,” said the spiritual leader.
“We feel,” the Primate emphasized, “how the arsonists of war, who victimize our homeland, are attempting to export the war worldwide. We consider it our Christian duty to oppose the war, to stop the murderous hand of the aggressors, no matter under what guise they propose themselves to the world.”
“Today, we offer our prayers, especially for peace in the Holy Land, where Christians from various churches and denominations, who represent religious minorities, have tragically become the primary victims of this terrible massacre.”
The UGCC Department for Information
