“The mission of listening is to help”: Head of the UGCC on the visit of Cardinal Zuppi to Ukraine
The feigned conditional neutrality of the Vatican at the diplomatic level in no way means spiritual, moral, or pastoral neutrality, stated by the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in a video message on the 70th week of the full-scale war that the Russian aggressor and occupier brought to peaceful Ukrainian land.
Cardinal Mateo Zuppi in Bucha, June 5, 2023. Photo: Bucha City Council
“We feel that the Pope and the entire Universal Catholic Church are now with us, with the suffering Ukrainian people, and he is well aware of who is the criminal and aggressor and who is the victim who needs to be saved, supported, and protected,” the Head of the Church added.
The Head of the Church cordially thanked the Holy Father Francis for his special concern for Ukraine and our pain and suffering.
The Primate noted that we see a visible gesture of the Holy Father to help the Ukrainian people and our homeland, for which we sincerely thank him — the visit of a special papal envoy, Cardinal Mateo Zuppi, to Ukraine.
“As the cardinal himself said, it is not about mediation, but about a mission of listening to help,” he said, referring to Pope Francis’ efforts to understand how to help Ukraine implement the 10-step peace plan. We are grateful to His Eminence Mateo Zuppi for the fact that after meeting with the President of Ukraine, with representatives of churches and religious organizations, he was concerned about one of the greatest pains and challenges of our homeland — the rescue of Ukrainian children who were forcibly taken from their homeland by Russian criminals,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
According to him, the Cardinal was in Ukraine when the Russians committed another war crime by blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
“So today, he will bring to the Holy Father and the world new challenges and, at the same time, new opportunities to stop the murderous hand of the Russian aggressor,” the Primate emphasized.
The UGCC Department for Information
