Head of the UGCC on Easter: “We Christians are the only ones who have hope, because we believe that Christ is truly risen”
Today, we feel that Christ is rising in us. Today, in spite of all the powers of darkness, we rejoice in the presence of the Risen Christ among us. Today, Sumy, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, and our golden-domed, holy city of Kyiv celebrate Easter. I see you here, in our church, with radiant faces. The light of the Risen Christ shines on the faces of our people today—and we want to say to the whole world: Look at us, Ukrainians, and you will believe that Christ is truly risen.
This was emphasized by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, during the Paschal Liturgy on April 20, 2025, at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.
Congratulating the faithful on the Resurrection of Christ, the Head of the UGCC said: “If you are in search of hope today, look at our military, who day and night—at the cost of their own blood, out of love for the Motherland—protect all of us.”
He urged listeners to “look at the faces of the mothers standing in our church today with their children. There you will see the glow of hope—for in these difficult times, they love their children, raise them, and teach them to do good.”
“Look at the faces of our doctors, our first responders,” added the Primate, “all those who day and night deal with the consequences of missile and drone strikes. In them, you will see the light of hope. Do you want to see hope? Look at the youth of Ukraine—those who, despite the terrible burden of war, which has fallen especially heavily on their shoulders, still know how to love, how to form families, how to give birth to new life. That youth has life in them. And today, that life is a light to the world.”
“Today I invite all of you to become witnesses of this hope,” he said, “because only when the world sees the radiance of the Risen Christ on our faces will they believe that Ukraine will prevail. Once we convince the world not only to hear about the hope of Ukraine but to see it—then the powerful of this world will choose the bright side of history. They will no longer serve darkness, but will follow the radiant life and resurrection of Ukraine, which we will reveal to the world with our faces.”
In his sermon during the Easter Liturgy, His Beatitude noted: “Today, from Christ’s empty tomb—as if from the very heart of the earth, from the pitch darkness—a startling message bursts forth to the whole world: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death.”
“This morning, the myrrh-bearing women come to the tomb. They come in sorrow, bringing myrrh to anoint the body of the Crucified. Their faces are dark, for they have suffered deeply in recent days, having seen their Teacher scourged, mocked, crucified, and buried. They had lost hope.”
And yet, “as they come in grief, they encounter light. They approach the darkness of the tomb—and from that tomb comes light. The bright angel says to them: Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen. That is: let not your face remain dark—receive the hope you thought was lost.”
“Yesterday, we heard that Christ died for us and in our place. Today we hear that He rises with us—and in us. Christ, rising from the dead, reopens the way to the source of life. And those who had lost all hope at the tomb now find it anew, encountering the Risen Savior,” the Patriarch explained.
His Beatitude emphasized: “We say that Christ rises with us in order to take each of us by the hand—from the tomb of our own despair, our own darkness—and lead us into the light of the Resurrection. That is why we say we Christians are the only ones who truly have hope, because we believe in the Resurrection. We believe that Christ is truly risen. But we also believe that He rises in us—because today He descends into the darkest corners of the human heart, even those that have lost all hope.”
He recalled: “We began this terrible week with the bitter pain of new victims in Sumy. It felt as though the cup of Ukraine’s suffering had been filled to the brim.”
“On Good Friday, Christ drank this cup of suffering, because He alone took upon Himself the pain of all humanity. And today, He does not let that cup remain empty. Today, He fills it with the light of the Resurrection. That is why we rejoice so deeply at the encounter with Christ—for He returns to us our lost hopes. He is the source of hope for Ukraine today.”
The Head of the UGCC extended Easter greetings to “our brothers and sisters in the occupied territories, who are unable to gather in prayer today. May the Lord shine on their faces with the light of Christian hope.” His Beatitude also greeted Ukraine’s defenders, young people, children, all those who have suffered from the war—especially those who have lost loved ones—as well as “all Ukrainians far from home, who long for their homeland and do everything they can to ensure that we have the strength to win.”
“I urge you: be witnesses of hope, witnesses of the Resurrection! Let everyone who hears ‘Christ is risen!’ from your lips also see the Resurrection. Let them see it in your faces, in your hearts—because that woman, that man, that boy or girl made them see the Resurrection of Christ in their faces.”
The Divine Liturgy was followed by the blessing of Easter food.
The UGCC Department for Information
