UGCC Head in the 194th Week of War: Let Us Pray Especially for the Defenders of Pokrovsk in Donbas
This week marks the 194th week of a war that has been raging for 11 years. Yet we count these weeks from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of our peaceful Ukrainian land by the Russian aggressor. This was stated by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in his traditional video address.
“It was a week of heroic struggle—a struggle to defend and protect our homeland,” said the Primate.
Concluding this period, His Beatitude Sviatoslav once again thanked God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for keeping us alive: “Thanks to the professionalism of our defenders, dozens and hundreds of enemy vehicles were destroyed, and millions of lives were saved. We thank our defenders—young men and women—for ensuring that life in Ukraine triumphed once again this week.”
The Head of the Church urged everyone to pray especially for the defenders of Pokrovsk in Donbas, the defenders of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, and those in the Sumy and Chernihiv borderlands, as well as in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro.
The Primate also thanked the energy sector workers who are fighting for light in Ukraine, and the fighters who ensured that the enemy was unable to break the resilience of Ukrainians on this front this week.
He separately offered prayers and gratitude to God for the courage and fortitude of Ukraine’s railway workers, who heroically maintain the functioning of cities and villages even at the cost of their own lives and health.
“Therefore, once again, we want the whole world to know about this heroism of the Ukrainian people. Let the world know that this week Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!” said the spiritual leader.
Despite shelling and blackouts, according to His Beatitude, the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv welcomed pilgrims this Sunday. As part of the anniversary pilgrimage of the Year of Hope, worshippers of the long-running ‘Rosary Unites’ initiative arrived at the cathedral. For five years now, every day at 8 p.m. Kyiv time, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been praying for their homeland.
The spiritual leader thanked all the faithful who have joined in this prayer daily for the past five years: “Thank you to everyone who heeded Pope Leo’s call and prayed the rosary in October. This Sunday, we conclude this time of prayer and thank everyone who responded with their hearts and stood in prayer before God.”
Read also:
Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 194th Week of the Full-Scale War, November 2, 2025
His Beatitude Sviatoslav also mentioned the great saint and ascetic—the father of our Church in the 20th century—the righteous Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky: “This year we celebrated the 160th anniversary of his birth, and yesterday, November 1, we traditionally commemorated the day of his passing into eternity. I thank everyone who prayed and continues to pray for his glorification. Let us ask Metropolitan Andrey to watch over our Church and our people from heaven.”
The UGCC Department for Information
