“We were in a place where hope is visible”: His Beatitude Sviatoslav at UCU Charity Evening
Today, on December 15, 2024, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, joined the 17th Charity Evening in support of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Archbishop and Metropolitan of Philadelphia, President of UCU Borys Gudziak and Most Rev. Bryan Bayda, Bishop of the Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada, participated in the event.
In his welcoming speech, His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that he “understood what a great gift it is to meet a kind and wise person in times of war, when human life is worth a fortune. The most valuable thing is that today Ukraine is defending its people.”
He reflected on what message to convey to the participants of the evening and “this message is the power of Christian hope.”
“Christian hope is not an empty sentiment. It is an experience, a certainty in something that we already have in the germ, and the germ that God has instilled in the heart of a believer is the germ of the Resurrection. Therefore, the people who believe in the Resurrection are invincible. The horizons of our life are much broader than this earthly life. We perceive our gains and losses — and even the other person we encounter—from the perspective of the Resurrection,” explained the Head of the UGCC.
The Patriarch explained that true wealth is not found in our pockets, minds, or knowledge. This wealth belongs to our hearts and no one can take it away from us. And this wealth is a gift of life that can be relied upon.”
He emphasized that “’Ukraine, as Bishop Borys Gudziak often repeats, is the epicenter of global change, and we, Ukrainians, are the bearers of hope for the person of the third millennium. He urged us to ‘look into each other’s eyes and discover the deeper wealth that your interlocutor carries within him, to look at the beauty of the new person hidden in the heart.’
“When our soldiers once again stand up and repel the attacks of an enemy who is superior in time and strength, arguably in weaponry, then hope takes on the face of a warrior. When our medics are stitching up the wounds of our soldiers and civilians day and night, tirelessly healing what the enemy intends to destroy once again, then hope in Ukraine takes on the face of a doctor, medic, paramedic. When a teacher, a lecturer, must once again bring together students who are bewildered during those air raids, teach them to be human in inhuman circumstances, then hope takes on the face of an educator,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.
“Today we see how hope—the power of Christian life and the source of Ukrainian resilience—takes on the face of Ukrainian youth, who, as they themselves say, are more likely to attend the funerals of their peers than weddings. Young people there know how to dream, are eager to learn, and need the Ukrainian Catholic University and philanthropists to help them realize their dreams. In Ukraine, hope has the face of a young girl and a young man,” added the Head of the UGCC.
He concluded by wishing that “upon returning from this evening, we would say that we were in a place where hope is visible.”
The Kyiv Evening of Philanthropy is an annual traditional event that has been supporting the development of the Ukrainian Catholic University since 2008.
The event brings together renowned business leaders, politicians, public and religious figures, scientists, and diplomats, all united in supporting quality education, talented students, and the future of the university.
The UGCC Department for Information
