Video-message of the Head of the UGCC on the 175th Week of Full-Scale War, June 22, 2025
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
We continue to count the days, nights, and weeks of the cruel, heinous, and crime-ridden war that Russia is waging against the Ukrainian people. This Sunday marks the 175th week of this war. It has been a week marked by new crimes against humanity—a week full of death, blood, tears, and destruction.
Perhaps by now, everyone has become accustomed to the fierce, bloody battles raging along the entire front line, where our girls and boys are shielding the peaceful people of Ukraine with their own bodies.
The very fact that we survived this week, especially here in Kyiv, is truly a miracle of God. We are grateful to God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for saving our lives after such a brutal assault on Kyiv, particularly during the terrible night of June 17, when Russia once again launched a massive attack on the city. Direct missile strikes destroyed entire apartment buildings in our capital. Twenty-eight people were killed and 134 seriously injured. All of Kyiv was horrified by the cruelty of the Russians, who deliberately target civilians. We witnessed the devastating consequences of a cluster bomb strike on Kyiv, deliberately engineered to kill civilians.
This week, on Friday, our city of Odesa was also targeted by a massive strike. Once again, there were dead and wounded in this pearl of the Ukrainian Black Sea coast. Our Sumy and Kharkiv regions were hit as well.
Nevertheless, we thank God that we are alive and can serve with all that we have, all that we know, and all that we can do. Most of all, we can pray. And we want the whole world to hear us once again: Ukraine stands. Ukraine fights. Ukraine prays.
This week marks exactly 100 days since the start of the so-called “peace talks” between Russia and Ukraine — 100 days during which Russia has refused to end the war in Ukraine. This was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Indeed, everything being said today about possible “peace talks” with the aggressor causes deep pain for Ukrainians. Pain for our deceived partners, pain for the ridicule of the very concept of peace.
Yet, we thank Pope Leo for once again raising Ukraine’s voice to the whole world, warning that we have no right to become accustomed to war.
This week, we strive to do everything possible to save human life in all its forms. We want Ukrainians, even amid this brutal war, to believe in God and to love their homeland.
Today, on this Sunday, we celebrate the Day of All Saints of the Ukrainian People. We especially thank God for kindling the hearts of our predecessors with the grace and fire of the Holy Spirit’s love, and for igniting the hearts of Ukrainians today in the current circumstances of our ecclesiastical and national life.
We commemorate the first saints of the Ukrainian people—the first fruits of the baptism of St. Prince Volodymyr: our martyrs Borys and Hlib; our founders and ascetics of monastic life in Kyiv, Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves. We remember the equal-to-the-apostles princes Volodymyr and Olha, who kindled the fire of Christian faith on the land of Ukraine.
We also pray that this fire of love for God and neighbor continues to burn in our hearts today. We believe that the history of holiness in the Kyiv Church did not end in the past—it continues in the present.
It is notable that on this Sunday, All Saints’ Day for the Ukrainian people, we contemplate the events coming next week in the life of our Church. We will celebrate Lay Day. On June 26, a large pilgrimage will be held in the village of Stradch near Lviv to honor our blessed martyrs.
Similarly, our global Ukrainian community is preparing for the Pilgrimage of Hope—a nationwide pilgrimage that will take place in Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica on June 28, next Saturday. I invite everyone to join this Pilgrimage of Hope, so that the fire of the Holy Spirit—the fire of faith, hope, and love—which God bestows upon us today through the prayers of all the saints of the Ukrainian people, will never be extinguished in our hearts.
I also ask all of you to pray for your bishops. This pilgrimage to Rome, and in particular the Liturgy with Pope Leo on the feast of the First Apostles Peter and Paul on Sunday, June 29, will mark the beginning of the regular session of the Synod of our bishops.
Please pray for this Synod of Bishops, which will focus on the pastoral care of the family—the most important cell of our people and society, so deeply wounded today by this terrible war.
Today, on this Sunday, as we reflect on the saints of our Church and people, we pray: Lord, bless this people. Hear their prayers; hear their cries of anguish—not only the anguish of despair, but the anguish that leads to hope. Hear the voices of the saints of the Ukrainian people who intercede in heaven for the suffering and traveling Church here on earth. Lord, stop the war in Ukraine! Bless our long-suffering people with Your just, heavenly peace!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
