“The Pope stands by the Ukrainian people in prayer and action”
This morning the Holy Father, Pope Francis, received in audience His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Head and Father of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The meeting took place in the private library of the Apostolic Palace.
His Beatitude, who did not leave the country due to Russian aggression and remained in Kyiv to give support and comfort to the tormented population, brought as a gift to the Holy Father a fragment of a Russian mine that destroyed the facade of the building of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in the town of Irpin, near Kyiv, in March.
This was a very symbolic gift, not only because Irpin was one of the first “martyr cities” hit by Russian aggression against Ukraine, but also because similar pieces of mines have been extracted from the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, civilians, and children—a visible sign of the destruction and the death that war brings every day.
Receiving His Beatitude, the Pope renewed his closeness to what he calls “the tormented Ukrainian people” and assured him that he stands alongside the Ukrainian people in prayer and action. Pope Francis also encouraged the Major Archbishop and his pastors to “evangelical service of closeness to the suffering people, oppressed by fear and the violence of war.”
Pope Francis also reaffirmed the Holy See’s commitment to an end to the aggression and the arrival of a just peace. The commitment of the Holy See, the Pope said, is also to promote solidarity with the Ukrainian people, as well as to support peace efforts.
His Beatitude, on his part, said he wanted to bring the cry of the Ukrainian people to the Pope.
“The war in Ukraine,” he said, “is a colonial war and the peace proposals that come from Russia are proposals for colonial pacification. These proposals imply the denial of the existence of the Ukrainian people, of its history, culture, and even the Church. It is the denial of the right to exist for the Ukrainian state, which has been recognized by the international community with its sovereignty and territorial integrity. On these premises, Russia’s proposals lack a subject for dialogue.”
The Head and Father of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church presented to the Pope the work done by the Church to support the people in conditions of war and recounted what he observed while visiting the communities in central, eastern, and southern Ukraine, the territories most affected by the war.
“I told the Pope about the service of our bishops, priests, monks, and nuns in the currently occupied territories. I emphasized that all our pastors have remained close to the suffering people. I explained that every one of our cathedrals, churches and monasteries has become a centre of refuge, hospitality, and humanitarian service,” His Beatitude stated.
The Pope was also presented with the 2030 pastoral plan of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, at the centre of which is service to the weakest, welcoming and accompanying displaced persons, and the treatment of wounds caused by the war.
His Beatitude also thanked the Pope for all that has been done to stop the war and mediate peace, to free hostages and prisoners, and to organize the universal solidarity of the Catholic Church in favour of the suffering Ukrainian people.
Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome
