“Let us accomplish the mission to which each of us is called by the voice of God from the fire of war in Ukraine,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav to the participants of the III session
Listen to the wounds you carry inside you. After all, it is necessary to do something good to heal wounds. Good deeds have a double effect: they help the needy and save the one who accomplishes them, stated the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, on March 4, 2023, during the first meeting of the third session of the All-Church Forum of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which took place online. The meeting was attended by more than 120 participants from around the world.
The Primate welcomed the delegates with a speech and noted that today, through the fire of war, God calls our Church to serve at various levels, including healing the wounds and traumas of war.
After the prayer “O Heavenly King,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav thanked all the participants of the first meeting of the third session of the All-Church Forum for their participation, emphasizing that this is a moment of the assemblage of the UGCC, as delegates of our Church from different parts of the world attend it. The All-Church Forum of the UGCC is part of the synodal path of the entire Catholic Church.
The Head of the UGCC compared the fire of war that is glowing in Ukraine to the moment of God’s revelation to Moses: when the Lord said from the burning bush that the voice of the suffering people’s prayer reached His ears, so He hastened to save His people sending Moses to them (cf. Ex. 3, 7–10). Similarly, the Lord now sends us to our people united by the logic of the pastoral plan “The Hope to which the Lord Calls Us” outlined by the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC in 2022, to serve our people where there is the greatest need, His Beatitude Sviatoslav concludes.
The Primate noted that the task of this Forum’s session is to get acquainted with the pastoral plan’s central guidance to implement it as effectively as possible for the needs of our suffering people.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that the most important thing now is to focus on treating the wounds and traumas of war because “today’s victory for Ukraine will be not only the Russian troops’ pullout but also the ability to help itself with the war trauma.”
“Our pastoral plan is a plan for treating the wounds of war. The Church is called to treat war wounds differently than a doctor does. Its task is to make God Himself present, His healing action in the body of our people. God wants to act through us. We have to become a bridge across which He will pour His healing power on the wounds of our people,” said the bishop.
Summarizing the meeting, His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that the entire Church suffers from war wounds, both in Ukraine and worldwide. Therefore, according to him, joining forces in healing the traumas of war is so important. And this path should begin today because “today the Lord is speaking to us from the fire of war.”
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