His Beatitude Sviatoslav congratulated the Plast members on the occasion of the XXI Meeting of the Conference of Ukrainian Plast Organizations
The Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, congratulated the Plast members in the person of the Honorable Chief Signor Myron Spolsky, Head of the Main Plast Bulava (Mace), on the occasion of the XXI Meeting of the Conference of Ukrainian Plast Organizations, which is being held in Poland for the first time in history.
Head of the UGCC at the Sokil plast camp in the village of Hrynkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region, 2017
“At the outset of the meeting, I invite you to recall the words of the Plast oath: ‘I swear on my own honor that I will do everything in my power to be faithful to God and Ukraine.’ Every Plast member says them before becoming a member of your organization. They were also said by your glorious predecessors more than a century ago when your organization was founded, and later, when our Church was liquidated and operated underground, and the idea of an independent Ukraine was severely persecuted,” said the Head of the UGCC.
“Perhaps a few years ago,” the Head of the Church wrote in his letter of congratulations, “when taking this oath, your new members did not fully understand how much effort they needed to put in to keep it. Nonetheless, amid this brutal war today, many young men and women who belonged to Plast have gone to the ‘eternal stand’ to the throne of the Lord.”
“May their place on earth be taken by their brothers and sisters who will continue their struggle with dignity. The slogan ‘God and Ukraine!’ is being forged in the crucible of severe trials brought about by this war,” the Patriarch wished.
“Seizing this opportunity to convene this Plast meeting, I bow my head to all of you for the most precious sacrifice you have made — the lives of your brothers. I pray and believe that it will bear a hundredfold fruit. I call upon you the Holy Spirit so that, united by His power, you may serve the people of Ukraine with dignity. As a pledge of God’s generous gifts, I bestow my bishop’s blessing on you!” added His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The UGCC Department for Information
