Lithuania speaks on behalf of Ukraine to the European Union nations: Head of the UGCC in the 85th week of war
Lithuanians sincerely commiserate with our long-suffering people and are doing everything to ensure that Ukraine is gaining victory day by day, stated the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in a traditional video address on the 85th week of the great war that the Russian aggressor brought to peaceful Ukrainian land.
The Primate noted that the Russian invaders had struck the Ukrainian South the heaviest over the past week. The Ukrainian Black Sea region was on fire, and the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions were burning. The Russians are deliberately destroying the infrastructure of our ports to hinder the export of Ukrainian grain. Settlements in the right-bank Kherson region — towns and villages on the banks of the Dnipro River — are burning. This week, the long-suffering Kherson and Beryslav were again covered in human blood.
But through it all, the spiritual leader emphasizes, we thank the Lord God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for being alive.
“On October 1, we celebrate the Protection of the Holy Virgin. This is not only our church and religious holiday but also a national and state holiday. We especially pray for the defenders of Ukraine and thank them for their heroic service. And it is solely to their efforts we say today: Ukraine stands! Ukraine is fighting! Ukraine is praying!” he said.
The Head of the UGCC noted that this week has been marked by special spiritual events in Vilnius, which this year celebrates the 700th anniversary of its foundation.
“It was here,” he said, “that clergy and representatives of the Ukrainian community came to thank God for the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Josaphat, not only from different parts of Lithuania but also from Latvia and Estonia. Greek Catholics from Belarus also arrived. We visited the monastery where St. Josaphat began his spiritual journey and prayed in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius, which at a certain period in the history of our Church was the seat of the Kyivan metropolitans.”
At the same time, we were privileged to thank the hospitable nations of the Baltic States for their open hearts and solidarity with the people of Ukraine. “Lithuania is a strategic partner for us today, the voice of Ukraine to the peoples of the European Union,” the Primate emphasized.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav also noted that this Sunday, an event of global significance, the Pontifical Synod of Bishops, starts in Rome. Three delegates from our Church have arrived to attend it: the Head of the Church, Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh, and Bishop Teodor Martyniuk.
“And we, together with all the bishops, clergy, and laity who are delegates to this Council, together with the Holy Father, will pray and work to ensure that the synodal path of the Universal Church serves to renew Christian life throughout the world,” the Head of the Church assured.
The UGCC Department for Information
