UGCC Head in Paris: “Ukrainians Are a Wounded People and Our Wounds Still Bleed”
On November 3, in one of the largest churches in Paris, Saint-Sulpice, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, presided over the Divine Liturgy.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav was concelebrated by the Apostolic Administrator of the UGCC Eparchy of Saint Volodymyr-Le-Grand de Paris, Rt. Rev. Hlib Lonchyna, the representative of the Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Marcel Shmeikan, and the priests of the eparchy.
The Liturgy was attended by Ambassador of Ukraine to France Vadym Omelchenko and his family, Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, Director General of the charitable organization “L’Œuvre d’Orient”, Vicar General of the Ordinariate for Eastern Catholics in France, as well as representatives of Ukrainian organizations, Ukrainians from France and Belgium.
In his sermon, His Beatitude Sviatoslav brought greetings from Ukraine.
“Greetings from the Ukraine bleeding, but struggling, the Ukraine that is exhausted, yet not defeated, the Ukraine that is wounded, though continuing to stand and win,” the preacher emphasized.
He called for faith, drawing on the Gospel story of Jairus, a synagogue leader who ‘weeps because his only child is dying,’ and of a woman ‘whose body weakens through bleeding but, in faith, is the only one who reaches out to touch Jesus.’
“Christ comes to raise. He comes to rescue this father from his despair. He comes to heal the woman from her illness. He comes to raise the dead daughter and conquer even death before the eyes of all those present,” said the Patriarch.
He reflected on “how precious it is to have someone who points us to the One who can lift us up.” “How desperate we are today for such a father, for parents who would indicate Jesus to us, and probably do more than that—take Jesus by the hand and bring him to their home.”
“Today I think of fathers, parents, Ukrainians who sometimes, even before saying goodbye to their family, before holding their loved ones for the last time, go to Confession. They show even their family, relatives and friends the One who will lift them up, and then go to defend their homeland,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The Primate emphasized that “the Lord speaks to us today: ‘Do not be afraid, only believe,’ but ‘much will depend on how we touch Jesus now: either as those who pressed and crowded around Him, or as the one who believed.’
The Head of the UGCC said that “Ukrainians are a wounded people and our wounds still bleed. The wounds of our past and our memory bleed, and so today we will commemorate the innocent victims of the famine in Ukraine—the victims of this terrible Stalinist genocide.”
“The diabolical communist genius turned famine into a weapon of mass destruction—the cheapest weapon that could possibly exist. Strange as it may sound, this weapon is still killing Ukrainians in Ukraine today. Our wounds, which are passed on to us in the memory of our people, are being inflicted by the new wounds of the modern sacrilegious war. And so we ask: ‘Jesus, come to us!’ His Beatitude Sviatoslav explained.
He urged “to be like this woman today, who in faith and hope said to herself, ‘I will just touch and my wound will be healed.’”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav also expressed his gratitude to the Archbishop of Paris for the opportunity to celebrate the Liturgy, “with which we praise the Lord God and the noble great French people for their support, their help, and their solidarity with the suffering Ukraine.”
Then the Head of the UGCC named Archpriest and presented a golden pectoral cross with decorations to Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, Director General of the charitable organization “L’Œuvre d’Orient” (“The Work of the East”), for “assistance in the development of the UGCC Eparchy in France and support of its mission through the implementation of educational and formation projects, persistence in conveying the truth about the current war in Ukraine and the tragic events of our past, such as the persecution of the UGCC and the Holodomor of Ukrainians.”
After the Liturgy, the Patriarch and the clergy served a memorial service for the victims of the Holodomor.
The UGCC Department for InformationPhoto by Kylyna Kurochka
