His Beatitude Sviatoslav to the Marriage Encounters Community: “The Lord God Never Calls Us to Anything Unattainable”
On April 6, 2025, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, met with the Marriage Encounter community. More than 30 married couples from across Ukraine came to the Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv for a pilgrimage and a meeting with the Head of the UGCC.
Addressing the couples, His Beatitude encouraged them not to fear responsibility, because “the Lord God never calls us to anything beyond our capabilities.”
Reflecting on the events of 2024, the Patriarch added: “We did everything we could to save our state, to defend Ukraine, to help those in need.”
“The Lord God is such a master of this world that He can do the impossible. A challenge is not just something to be tackled with your limited resources—your time, knowledge, and skills,” he said.
Congratulating the community on the upcoming Easter holiday, he wished that “you may experience it deeply, as it is the source of our hope.”
“Christian hope is above all the hope of resurrection and eternal life. Then everything we experience here becomes understandable. It aligns with that essential truth about the future,” added His Beatitude Sviatoslav, inviting them to join a pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee Year of Hope.
Fr. Andriy Pyptyk, national confessor of the Marriage Encounter community, spoke about the group’s principles: “Our spiritual foundation is dialogue—as a path of spirituality, a path of spiritual life.”
“The spouses in the community live out this gift of dialogue daily. First and foremost, they are encouraged to listen to each other, to recognize needs and feelings, and to make sure they understand one another. And, of course, to forgive. I believe that even a small community like this has a powerful impact on children and the formation of our youth,” he said.
He went on to stress: “The Marriage Encounter community and the family itself are vital for our Church today—for its renewal and mission, so that we can pass on the faith and demonstrate how to believe, how to live in love, guided by the principles of dialogue.”
Nazar Plishka, an animator from Ternopil, shared: “Marriage Encounters for us was like a breath of fresh air in our marriage. We started living our married life in a new way. A dialogue emerged in our family—with each other and with our child. We began to understand each other better. There’s more love, support, and understanding now.”
Bohdan and Olya Tchaikovsky added: “This is an international community, and there are five centers in Ukraine: Kyiv, Ternopil, Lviv, Chortkiv, and Ivano-Frankivsk.”
“We don’t stand apart from the Church—we are supported. That gives people strength and motivation. We understand that without the Church, without Jesus Christ, there is no salvation. For us, this is very special, because we represent three generations—our children and grandchildren. We thank God for this pilgrimage, the shared prayer, the wonderful time, and the blessing of our spiritual father,” the couple shared.
Reference
Marriage Encounter is an international Catholic community founded in 1978. Its mission is to deepen mutual understanding between husband and wife and to promote the unity and longevity of marriage in accordance with the teachings of the Universal Church.
In the UGCC, the first Marriage Encounter retreat was held in 1999 in Vorzel, near Kyiv. Today, five centers are active, with two more currently being established. Every four years, the community holds a congress to elect its leadership and board.
The primary tool of the community is the “Marriage Encounter” retreat for married couples. These retreats take place from Friday to Sunday in a quiet setting outside the city and follow a special program.
In 2018, the community’s animators also launched a series of Evenings for the Beloved—premarital sessions based on a dedicated program developed within the community to help young people prepare for married life. The UGCC Department for Information
