His Beatitude Sviatoslav honored the winners of the Blessed Omelian Kovch Award
On November 28, the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide hosted a ceremony awarding the Blessed Martyr Omelian Kovch Award. One of the winners was the military chaplain of the UGCC, Fr. Yuriy Logasa. His Beatitude Sviatoslav attended the event.
The event began with commemorating the Holodomor victims and placing ears of grain near the Bitter Memory of Childhood Statue on the museum’s grounds.
According to the Head of the UGCC, this year’s award ceremony of the Martyr Omelian Kovch is a unique event because it is the first time since the all-out invasion. “Today, two events have merged,” said the Patriarch. “We experienced the moment of awarding here, in the Museum of the Holodomor Genocide. This year, we honor the 90th anniversary of this tragedy. But also today, we honored those who continue the ministry of Father Omelian Kovch, a pastor in extreme circumstances, the parish priest of Maidanek, a priest, a man who had the strength to be himself in inhuman circumstances.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that this year’s winners demonstrated heroic humanity during the war. “We honored a young girl, ‘Ptashka,’ who is recognized by the entire Ukrainian people today. We honored the Polish people — not a state or institution, but ordinary people who spontaneously opened their homes to Ukrainians. We honored the military chaplains of various churches, even of different denominations, who, similarly to Father Omelian Kovch, see God amid the fiery war and guide our soldiers to Him. We are proud that Father Omelian’s work continues, which means that Ukraine is winning,” the Primate said.
Father Yuriy Logaza said that the letter from Blessed Omelian Kovch to his family from the concentration camp reminded him of his fellow National Guardsmen from Slavutych who are still in captivity. Father Yuriy thanked His Beatitude Sviatoslav and Bishop Yosyf Milian for their support in the first weeks of the war: “My family felt that we were not alone — the whole Church was with us, praying, and standing by us.”
The UGCC Department for Information
