“In Rome, we pray for the victory of Ukraine and a just, stable peace for our land”: Head of the UGCC on the 82 nd week of the war
We feel that the whole world and the entire Catholic Church stand in solidarity with Ukraine, especially in Rome at the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. And from here, we say to the world today: Ukraine stands! Ukraine is fighting! Ukraine is praying! His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said this in his traditional address on the 82 nd week of the great full-scale war that the Russian aggressor brought to the peaceful Ukrainian land.
Head of the UGCC during the Divine Liturgy at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, September 10, 2023
The Primate noted that Ukraine is bleeding again. There is heavy fighting on the frontline, but our girls and boys bravely defend their homeland. We are alive because the Ukrainian army is protecting us, step by step, at the cost of their own lives, liberating the Ukrainian land.
The enemy is again shelling peaceful towns and villages. Many people were killed in Konstantinovka, Donetsk region because the aggressor attacked the market where people came to buy food. Today, we would like to pray especially for Kryvyi Rih, where rescue efforts are ongoing and the number of victims grows daily.
As part of the regular session of the Synod of Bishops, when bishops from all over the world gathered in Rome, the UGCC celebrates a special anniversary — the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Josaphat, Archbishop of Polotsk.
“Today we see that St. Josaphat, through his martyrdom, added a deeper meaning and understanding to the communion of the Kyivan Church with the successor of the Apostle Peter,” said the Head of the Church and continued: — “In all the meetings that we have these days in the Vatican, both with the Holy Father and with the heads of the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia, we hear the voice of St. Josaphat that we are the heirs of the great Kyivan tradition, that we are Catholics in unity with the Universal Church.”
“It has occurred more than once in history,” says His Beatitude Sviatoslav, “that our Church, as the soul and mother of the Ukrainian people, has withstood because of the universal international Catholic solidarity, support, and protection. And now Ukraine is able to withstand the Russian aggressor because the whole world stands in solidarity with us and helps us with everything we need.”
The spiritual leader said that the holy martyr Josaphat is the only Ukrainian saint buried at the tomb of the Apostle Peter in the heart of the Christian universal world. The first Christians in Rome considered it a special honor to be buried at the tomb of the Apostle Peter.
“Together with thousands of pilgrims who came to Rome, at the tomb of the Apostle Peter, together with our Josaphat, we pray for the victory of Ukraine, a just and thus lasting and stable peace for our long-suffering, stained with the blood of our sons and daughters, the holy Ukrainian land,” said the Head of the UGCC.
The UGCC Department for Information
