On the 152 nd Week of the War, UGCC Head Urges the World Not to Appease Russia’s Evil That Plagues Minds
We want the whole world to hear the voice of Ukraine, that there is no need to convince our people of the need to trade our territories. His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said this on the 152 nd week since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of peaceful Ukrainian land by the Russian occupier.
Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia on January 8, 2025 kills 13 civilians, photo: Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration
This week our cities and villages shuddered again. Along the entire front line, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are heroically holding back heavy assaults and attacks by Russian troops from various types of weapons. Our peaceful towns and villages are suffering because Russians disregard the customs of war.
The Primate noted that celebrating the Theophany last week, we felt that God is with us. He descended not only once into the Jordan, but also into the Ukrainian Dnipro River, pouring out God’s love upon our people—a love brought from the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why we are now testifying, declaring it to the whole world: Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
Last week, intellectuals, public figures, philosophers and theologians, and cultural workers of Ukraine addressed an open letter to the international community regarding a just end to the war, the spiritual leader said. The document is titled “Do not appease evil.”
“This appeal,” he says, “by representatives of civil society and churches of Ukraine is related to our hope that this year we can put an end to this war. However, there are many illusions in the world regarding how this should be achieved. Therefore, Ukrainian intellectuals, guided by moral principles, argue that it is impossible to find a solution or a path for a just and sustainable peace without addressing the causes of the war.”
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Video-message of the Head of the UGCC on the 152nd Week of Full-Scale War, January 12, 2025
His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasizes that territories bear no importance to Russia, as it has many of them: “Occupying Ukrainian territories, it mercilessly destroys them, waging a scorched earth war. Instead, the enemy seeks to interfere in the internal affairs of each state. Therefore, it will be the wrong way to stop this evil if you allow it penetrate your minds—it will destroy your political system, your economy with new forms of corruption, and intervene militarily in hundreds of conflicts in the world. We should not appease evil—it must be stopped. Together we can and must do it.”
The UGCC Department for Information
