“We say to you, brothers and sisters, in the voice of wounded people: Thank you!” — His Beatitude Sviatoslav blessed the resuscitation vehicles transferred from Austria to Kyiv
On Saturday, February 18, 2023, near the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv, the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, received and blessed ambulances that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church received as a gift from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Austria and Ukrainian communities.
According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will transfer the ambulances to the most needed: military hospitals and various healthcare facilities.
The Primate emphasized that this event is taking place under tragic circumstances because even this morning, missiles were soaring over Kyiv, and our Church blessed the cars that will save lives.
The Head of the UGCC thanked the entire Austrian people on behalf of Mr. Ambassador for standing with Ukraine in this difficult time.
“Thank you for everything the Austrian state and people are doing to save lives in Ukraine,” he said.
On behalf of Fr. Yuriy Kolasa, His Beatitude Sviatoslav expressed his gratitude to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn and the entire Catholic bishops, noting that these cars were a gift from the Catholic Bishops of Austria.
The Head of the Church said that today the experience of Ukrainian doctors had become a treasure of the world medical community because the world has never seen such wounds caused by the war in Ukraine, equally with their number.
The Patriarch convinced that over the next few days medics would be able to receive the gift from Austria.
In his opinion, this event shows the role and place of the Church in Ukrainian society today.
“The Church is a center of love, social service, and a space of international solidarity. We see how people from different countries trust the Ukrainian Church. They hand over their cars under our responsibility because they say we know what to do with them and who needs them most. As a mother and teacher, it is the way the Church saves lives in Ukraine,” he said.
In a commentary for Zhyve TV, Dr. Arad Benkö, Austrian Ambassador to Ukraine, assured that Austria is a great friend of Ukraine, and the need to help Ukraine is self-evident and even a certain obligation.
Father Yuriy Kolasa, Vicar General for the faithful of the Eastern Catholic Churches in Austria, spoke in a commentary about the idea of purchasing ambulances that the Ukrainian faithful in Austria came up with.
“This idea arose among the faithful of the UGCC. A priest working in Austria for many years, Fr. Lubomyr Dutka, asked our faithful to raise funds. In a short time, we raised the necessary amount, which made it possible to purchase 12 ambulances from Green Cross, which we can hand over to our Church in Kyiv,” the priest said.
“We were especially touched by the fact that the new communities, which consist of 90 % of displaced people who lost everything they had, also joined the collection. In addition, women organized fairs and thus raised funds for the ambulances,” said Fr. Yuriy Kolasa.
The UGCC Department for Information
