His Beatitude Sviatoslav Wrote a Letter of Support to Pope Francis and Urged the Faithful to Pray for Him
The Head of the UGCC expressed his prayerful support to Pope Francis and called on the faithful to pray for him.
Meeting of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC with Pope Francis, Vatican City, September 6, 2023. Photo: Vatican Media
In his letter to His Holiness Pope Francis, His Beatitude Sviatoslav expressed to the Pope prayerful support from the bishops, priests, monastics and faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. “In this time of your physical weakness and suffering, we pray that the Holy Spirit grants you strength to continue your apostolic mission of peace and hope in the modern world wounded by wars.”
The Head of the UGCC thanked Pope Francis for his steadfast support of Ukraine since the beginning of Russian aggression, in particular for the gestures of His Holiness shortly before his hospitalization by presenting various political leaders with a book entitled “Persecuted for the Truth,” about the new martyrs of the UGCC. “May the faces of these martyrs bear witness to the truth of the past and serve as a warning against the triumph of evil in our time.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav calls on the clergy, monastics and faithful of the UGCC to pray for the Holy Father, urges prayer communities and groups to support Pope Francis through prayer and fasting in this time of illness and struggle against the disease.
Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome
