Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the 208th week of the war: Aid to Ukrainians unites Polish society
In his traditional military video address during the 208th week of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, noted that we have witnessed a special sign of solidarity from the Polish people.
The Primate said that Russia’s war against Ukraine would go down in history as sacrilege and one of the gravest crimes against humanity in the third millennium—a crime also against our merciful God, who is love.
Last week, one of the coldest this winter, the spiritual leader emphasized, was a time of struggle for humanity, warmth, and light, particularly in central, eastern, and southern Ukraine. Fierce fighting rages along the entire front line. Every night, Ukrainian cities and villages are subjected to attacks by Russian missiles and drones of various types.
“Despite numerous appeals from the international community and condemnation of crimes against humanity committed by Russia in destroying Ukrainian settlements, these crimes have not stopped. However, we have witnessed a special sign of solidarity from the Polish people. As a result of a fundraising campaign announced in all parishes of the Archdiocese of Krakow at the call of His Eminence Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, 5,740,000 Polish zlotys were collected. These funds were used to send humanitarian convoys to Ukraine with electric generators of various capacities, heating equipment, food packages, and other necessary equipment for setting up centers of resilience in Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic parishes,” said the Head of the Church.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav expressed his gratitude to His Eminence for this initiative, which united Polish society in helping Ukraine.
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Almost PLN 6 million raised for Kyiv: Head of the UGCC thanks Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś and the Polish people for generators and heaters
This week, we also witnessed two joyful events—rays of God’s hope shining brightly amid the harsh winter of war.
The first event was the exchange of prisoners of war, as a result of which 157 Ukrainian defenders returned home.
The Head of the Church called particularly moving the story of a soldier from the Lviv region who had been presumed missing and killed in the Kupiansk direction back in September 2022: “This event is proof that even in hopeless circumstances, hope does not fade. We thank God for preserving the life of our defender and rejoice that he can now be a living example that even in the most hopeless circumstances there is always hope.”
The second event was the 102 nd session of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, held in Lviv. Its main theme was “Catechesis in Wartime.”
“We want our Church to fulfill its mission as mother and teacher, providing proper catechetical care to children, youth, and people of all ages, even in times of war. We will pursue the further development of a network of catechetical schools, communities, and the apostolate of the Word of God so that everyone who seeks God may encounter Him in the community of the living Church, which is our Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
