“God bless the decent and free children of Ukraine”: His Beatitude Sviatoslav congratulates Ukrainians on Independence Day
The Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, congratulated Ukrainians on the Independence Day of Ukraine.
“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today I sincerely congratulate you all on the Independence Day of our free Ukrainian state. Ukraine’s independence is a holiday and a gift received from God. Today, above all, we want to thank the Lord God for granting us a free and independent state, for living as decent people in our country,” said the Head of the Church in a special video message.
Today, as he says, we are again trying to understand the preciousness of the gift of freedom. Therefore, on this day, we thank the Lord God for the gift of independence. We, in turn, must accept it and mature in it. To be free is, first of all, to be open to doing good.
“Only free people can build a free state and homeland. So let us fight for freedom from all evil!” called His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
According to the Father and Head of the UGCC, love is the highest form of freedom. Therefore, on this day, it is important to especially remember those who are strong enough to love their homeland to the extent of self-sacrifice.
“On this day, we especially remember the generations of heroes of the national liberation struggle of our people, who at different times and epochs of the history of the Ukrainian people not only dreamed of a free Ukraine but also fought for it, putting in a lot of sweat, blood, and tears. Today, we especially pray for our girls and boys defending our independence on the battlefields of the war Russia brought to our lands. We can now celebrate this holiday only because our Ukrainian army is creating a realm of freedom,” said the Primate.
“Today, we especially pray for those brothers and sisters, our compatriots, who are under Russian occupation and may be punished with death for the very fact of celebrating this day. We are now committed to doing everything we can to ensure that Ukraine wins this unequal struggle. Today, we support the Ukrainian army and strive to help those traumatized by this war. We understand the independence of our homeland in times of war in a special way — as our common welfare,” he said.
“We pray today for this reason: God, bless Ukraine! God bless the decent and free children of Ukraine! God, Great and Only, protect Ukraine!” His Beatitude Sviatoslav concluded.
The UGCC Department for Information
