Video-message of the Head of the UGCC on the 152rd Week of Full-Scale War, January 19, 2025
Christ has born!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
We continue to count the days and nights, the weeks of this horrific, sacrilegious war. It is now the 153rd week since the full-scale invasion of our peaceful Ukrainian land by Russian occupiers.
This week, once again, was one of miraculous survival. We thank the Lord God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for granting us the ability to work, pray, and continue performing good deeds—serving the Lord God and the Ukrainian people, as His Beatitude Lubomyr often reminded us.
The week was again marked by nightly air attacks targeting our cities and villages. Heavy battles rage along the entire front line, while communities far from the front continue to endure nightly airstrikes. This week saw another large-scale missile attack, with towns and villages in western Ukraine particularly affected.
Amidst this darkness, however, there was a moment of light and joy: another prisoner of war exchange took place, with 25 defenders of our homeland finally released. Among them were the brave defenders of Mariupol, including our Azov soldiers.
We are profoundly grateful for the grace of the Holy Spirit, which soothes the wounds of our people each time we see our defenders released from captivity. The sight of tears of joy on the faces of children, mothers, and wives fills us with gratitude. We honor the heroic testimony of love for the Motherland demonstrated by our defenders, even in the torture chambers of Russia.
At the same time, we feel it is the Church’s duty, in its pastoral mission to heal the wounds of war, to stand alongside the families of our prisoners of war. We see them silently holding posters in squares and in front of government buildings, suffering not only from separation but often from a lack of attention and information about their loved ones. In these moments, the Church is their unwavering support—praying with them in the cold, listening to their stories, and being the voice of their pain.
We do everything in our power to achieve the release of our heroes through international and diplomatic efforts. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, who recently hosted a delegation of families of prisoners of war. This is a distinctive form of our Church’s ministry to grieving families. And when our prayers are answered and our defenders return home, we all share a profound sense of gratitude: to our heroes, to the Lord God, and to all the good people who stand by our wounded nation.
Ukraine stands! Ukraine fights! Ukraine prays!
This week, particularly in our spiritual interchurch life, was designated as a week of prayer for unity among Christians. Just yesterday, our Patriarchal Cathedral hosted a traditional prayer service that united representatives from various denominations, churches, and Christian communities.
Together, we stood before God, asking for the grace of the Holy Spirit to heal the wounds of divisions that have separated Christians for a millennium. In Ukraine, however, we recognize that the issue of Christian unity is not solely a spiritual matter—though its spiritual dimensions are profound and still unfolding—but also a question of our nation’s resilience. It is, fundamentally, a matter of national security. Peace and harmony among Christians are essential to the stability of the Ukrainian people.
Even the Ukrainian state has acknowledged this. When presenting his plan for Ukraine’s internal stability to the Verkhovna Rada, the President of Ukraine highlighted church-state partnership as a critical component of this stability. For the first time in Ukraine’s decades of independence, the state has explicitly recognized the religious community as a vital part of the infrastructure supporting our society’s survival, especially during wartime. The model for church-state relations has been defined as a partnership for the benefit of the Ukrainian people.
A special role in fostering this unity, and in ensuring Ukraine’s resilience as we journey toward victory, belongs to the churches of St. Volodymyr’s Baptism. This week, I had the honor of visiting His Beatitude, Metropolitan Epifaniy, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. During our meeting, I was privileged to represent the voice of my predecessors—Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and His Beatitude Lubomyr—who emphasized that Ukraine’s future depends on the relationship between our churches.
We shared perspectives on continuing our cooperation—respecting our differences and sensitivities while exploring opportunities to serve the Ukrainian people and state together.
We ask the Lord God to send His Spirit of unity upon all our divisions and disagreements. For it is Christian unity that reflects the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Christian unity is the cornerstone of the effective proclamation of the Gospel to humanity in the third millennium. It is also the key to Ukraine’s victory over the enemy and to the resilience of our society in the face of the ongoing challenges that history places before us.
May God bless Ukraine! May He bless our men and women on the frontlines! O God, help us to free all prisoners, locate the missing, and liberate those living under occupation! Heal the wounds of war, bring back those scattered far from home, and aid us in rebuilding what has been destroyed!
O Lord, bless Ukraine, our people, Your children with Your just heavenly peace!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
Christ has born! Glorify Him!
