The Head of the UGCC congratulates Pope Francis on the 10th anniversary of his pontificate
On March 13, the Catholic Church celebrates the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’s election to the papacy. On this occasion, His Beatitude Sviatoslav sent a congratulatory letter to the Pope. He expressed gratitude for the support of Ukraine and renewed his request for “joint efforts to achieve a just peace for the Ukrainian people.”
The Head of the UGCC noted that it is difficult to evaluate this anniversary only from human perspective “without looking through the spectrum of faith, which teaches us to trust God in every epoch of human history.”
“The faithful of our Church unite today with the whole world in prayer for you and your service to our people. In this time of ‘change of epochs,’ we are together experiencing the difficult time of the ‘world war in parts,’ which you often speak of, and now it is flaring up in the heart of Europe provoked by the downright Russian aggression against ‘long-suffering Ukraine,’” reads the letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The Head of the UGCC expressed gratitude for the many initiatives taken in supporting Ukraine before the full-scale invasion had broken out. “I want to thank you especially,” the Primate added, “for the letter to the Ukrainian people, in which, regardless of religious and denominational affiliation, we felt the compassion of a father who knows our pain.”
“Mourning our victims, together with you, we strive to work every day to build a just peace in Ukraine. We ask the Lord that Christianity in the modern world be the light of Christ’s truth and love through your ministry,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome
