The Head of the UGCC in Week 245 of the War: It Is Very Moving That, After His Hospital Stay, Pope Leo XIV Wanted to Hear the Voice of Ukraine
The meeting with the Holy Father was, on the one hand, an expression of Pope Leo XIV’s paternal compassion for the long-suffering Ukrainian people and, on the other, a visible and complete testimony to the communion between the Church of Kyiv and the Successor of the Apostle Peter. His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, spoke about this in his weekly video address during the 245th week of the terrible, bloody war that the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine.
The Primate noted that this week, Ukraine’s defenders, both men and women, were liberating our territories and successfully holding back numerically superior Russian forces. At the same time, the enemy continued to attack our cities and villages, striking both day and night.
“On the night of October 22, the enemy launched a massive attack on Kyiv, firing 21 ballistic missiles at the capital. They were deliberately aimed at residential neighborhoods. One of the missiles struck very close to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. This attack took place against the backdrop of yet another round of negotiations on a possible ceasefire, just as some were rushing to call the Russian aggressor ‘humane.’ We saw how this attack destroys what is most sacred, showing contempt not only for diplomacy but also for human life itself,” the Head of the Church emphasized.
Yet a joyful event also took place this week.
“That event was my meeting with His Holiness Leo XIV on Friday. It was incredibly moving that, in the first week after his return from the hospital, the Holy Father wanted to hear the voice of Ukraine. This meeting was, on the one hand, an expression of Pope Leo XIV’s paternal compassion for the long-suffering Ukrainian people and, on the other, a visible and complete testimony to the communion between the Church of Kyiv and the Successor of the Apostle Peter,” noted the spiritual leader of the Ukrainians.
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Address by the Head of the UGCC for the 245th Week of the Full-Scale War, October 25, 2026
His Beatitude Sviatoslav thanked the Holy Father for his tireless advocacy on behalf of Ukraine and for his humanitarian diplomacy, which has the courage to address the powerful of this world with prophetic words, reminding them of the need for peace and that the war in Ukraine has no military solution.
The Head of the UGCC also told Pope Leo XIV how Ukrainians are preparing for winter and trying to withstand the cold that Russia seeks to turn into a weapon of mass destruction. He thanked the Holy Father for the solidarity shown by the Catholic Church throughout the world toward the UGCC and the Ukrainian people.The UGCC Department for Information
