Address by the Head of the UGCC for the 238th Week of the Full-Scale War, September 6, 2026
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 238th week of this long and deadly war. Every week of this war is a week of heroic Ukrainian resistance against the Russian aggressor. At the same time, every such week brings new casualties, new losses, and new acts of heroism, as well as fierce fighting.
The Russian aggressor is changing its tactics, particularly in its attacks on civilian infrastructure and our cities and villages. Almost 10 days of continuous Russian attacks on Kyiv and the Kyiv region have now passed. The attacks began on the night of August 27, and the enemy has been relentlessly targeting our capital with various weapons in an attempt to paralyze our daily lives. It is well known that when an air raid alert is sounded in Kyiv, everything comes to a halt—public transportation, shopping centers, and so on. You can imagine what it is like: more than 10 days of such paralysis.
The worst part is that, using modern weapons, particularly unmanned aerial systems, the enemy attacks residential areas at night and, during the day—especially since September 1, when the school year began in Ukraine—deliberately targets schools, universities, and dormitories.
Indeed, we are confronted with state-sponsored terrorism in which civilians—particularly students—are deliberately targeted by Russian drones and missiles, especially at the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
We want to thank the Lord God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine once again for keeping us alive. Even in such critical circumstances, we are learning to live in a new way. The authorities in Kyiv are adapting the city’s operations to the continuous air attacks, and life goes on: children are studying, teachers and professors are teaching in schools and universities, doctors are treating patients, and the Church is praying.
In these dire circumstances—which affect not only the capital today but also our other cities and villages—our Church is pursuing a synodal path. That is, eparchial and exarchal forums are being held in our eparchies and exarchates. These are gatherings where our faithful, catechists, clergy, and leaders of spiritual and religious life come together to discuss how to support Ukrainian families. The main theme of these forums, which are now beginning around the world and will culminate in the Church-wide Forum on November 7, is family ministry: implementing the decisions adopted last year by the Synod of Bishops of our Church.
And in the context of our eparchial forums, we focused this week in particular on the demographic challenges and demographic crisis facing Ukraine. We sought the assistance of experts, specifically the Frontier Institute, which addresses issues of demography and emigration in Ukraine.
It was very interesting to hear that today’s demographic challenges extend far beyond population reproduction, birth rates, and mortality. The issue of Ukraine’s depopulation and the challenges associated with the demographic crisis are now significantly deeper and broader.
We learned that there are four factors that can help address the demographic challenges currently facing Ukrainian society. The first is helping people stay in Ukraine—the so-called “social optimism”: encouraging people not to leave their homeland but to plan their lives here, including having children in Ukraine.
The second very important element, obviously, is support for families—in particular, support for families who want to and aspire to have children. We know that when a family welcomes a new child, it goes through a period of vulnerability and needs help from the state, the Church, and society. And we truly want to protect the fertility of Ukrainian families. As a Church, we wish to help our young women and men enter into Christian marriages and help young families care for their children and not be afraid to have children in Ukraine.
It is also very important to recognize that the Ukrainian people are a transnational nation. Today, 29 million Ukrainians live in Ukraine, but in fact, there are about 60 million of us worldwide. And so, an awareness of the unity of the Ukrainian community—not only in Ukraine but throughout the world—and of our mutual support is an extremely important factor in enabling us to respond appropriately to the demographic challenges facing our people today and tomorrow.
Similarly, the future return home of our brothers and sisters—the children of Ukraine—is of great importance to the state and the Church, once, God willing, this war comes to an end.
Thus, the future of our people and the future of the Ukrainian state are truly being forged today. I want to thank everyone who is working today to foster the unity of Ukrainian society and the unity of the global Ukrainian community. To all those who are building mutual trust between the community and the Ukrainian family. To all those who are truly sacrificing their time and themselves in service so that the Ukrainian family may be strong, happy, and fruitful.
Therefore, today, once again, with faith, trust, and hope in God’s help, we say: Ukraine stands firm, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
On February 2, 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a very important document titled Gestis verbisque. It addresses the sacramental nature of the Church of Christ, as well as the norms, discipline, gestures, theology, and proper administration and celebration of the Holy Sacraments in the Church of Christ. Since then, our Church has been invited to articulate its own vision and bear witness to the tradition of our Church, particularly in the ministry of the Holy Sacraments. A group of theologians from our Church’s Theological Department has been working on this testimony.
And so, on September 1 this year, we published a separate document titled Christ Among Us: Liturgical and Theological Guidelines for the Celebration of the Holy Sacraments in Our Church.
This type of testimony to the sacramental life of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has proved to be very important and timely, especially today. In the midst of this full-scale invasion and this terrible war, when we face death every day, it is so important for us to feel that the Risen Christ is among us. We see that when people live under the constant threat of death, we rediscover the Holy Sacraments in our pastoral ministry. There is a return to the Holy Sacraments in the Church of Christ. People are seeking, in particular, Confession and Holy Communion. Obviously, we must be ready every day to stand before our Savior.
Therefore, to help our people discover the Holy Sacraments, it is very important to present the teaching of the Church. We once again emphasize that any work of evangelization, listening to the Word of God, or catechetical ministry is incomplete if we do not help people immerse themselves in the life of Christ’s Church through the liturgy. The Lord God not only speaks to us through the Word of God; He acts in our lives through the Holy Sacraments. The Word of God and the action of God have always been one and the same Sacrament of the liturgical life of the Church of Christ.
Therefore, this theological text that we have published, along with these pastoral guidelines, should serve as a resource for our catechists and clergy, so that our faithful may come to realize ever more deeply their participation in the Sacraments of Christ’s Church. They should not merely know about them, but experience them and live through a personal encounter with the living Christ, who is present in the Holy Sacraments.
That is why we invite you to gain a deeper understanding of the mysterious life of your Church—not only to learn about it, but also to have a personal encounter with it, to experience together that even during this brutal war, Christ is present among us.
God, bless Ukraine! Bless our young men and women who are defending our homeland on the front lines, and those who are defending our skies over our cities and villages throughout Ukraine! God, stop this war; stop the violence and the killing of Your innocent children!
Lord, grant Ukraine Your true, just, heavenly, divine, and blessed 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!
