Video-message of the Head of the UGCC on the 161st Week of Full-Scale War, March 16, 2025
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
The 161st week of the full-scale invasion of peaceful Ukrainian land by Russian occupiers has come to an end. This week will likely go down in history as a week of seeking peace for Ukraine at the highest international level. However, the aggressor responded to all international efforts with further escalation, launching new attacks not only along the front line but also on peaceful towns and villages across Ukraine.
The most outrageous attack was a missile strike on the Odesa seaport, where a foreign ship loading grain and bread to feed people in the least developed countries was hit. Four foreign citizens from Syria were killed.
Cities in southern Ukraine, including Dnipropetrovsk and Kryvyi Rih, also came under rocket and drone attacks. Powerful strikes caused significant destruction in our northern regions, particularly in Kharkiv and Sumy.
Despite these harrowing days—both for our diplomats and our military—we have received signs of comfort, support, and solidarity.
This week, we welcomed a delegation from the Catholic Church in the United States. The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has a dedicated office to aid the Church in Eastern Europe, which recently appointed a new head, Bishop Gerald Vincke of the Diocese of Salina, Kansas. His very first decision in this role was to travel to Ukraine with his team—specifically to Kyiv, to our Patriarchal Cathedral.
This transatlantic solidarity between Catholics in America and Ukraine creates a space for life and serves as an example for politicians, diplomats, and statesmen, showing them how it is both possible and necessary to support Ukraine and build peace.
That is why today, from the heart of our homeland, from the golden city of Kyiv, we once again declare: Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays.
This Sunday is the second Sunday of Lent. We have completed the second week of our Lenten journey toward the Resurrection of Christ. Today, the Holy Gospel passage heard in our churches recounts the healing of a paralyzed man, made possible by an extraordinary act of faith.
His friends brought him to Jesus, but finding no room in the house where our Teacher and Savior was staying, they dismantled the roof and lowered their afflicted companion before Christ’s eyes. Solidarity, love for one’s neighbor, and a sense of brotherhood created the space in which the Lord performed a miracle, raising up the one who had long awaited healing. It is through such love and unity that God works wonders.
As we reflected on this Gospel message this week, we also marked Volunteer Fighter Day in Ukraine. Today, we give thanks to those who, guided by conscience, rose to defend their homeland in its darkest hour. They have shown us, through action, what it truly means to love one’s people and one’s native land.
We strive to recognize the profound spiritual significance of this solidarity. Thanks to courageous young men and women like them, we are alive today—we can pray. Through their love for their neighbor, the Lord is working a great miracle within the body of the Ukrainian people, renewing our strength. He lifts us from the depths of despair, from weakness amid so many trials. Today, He grants us the light of hope.
We are grateful to our volunteer fighters and all who, following their conscience, have carried their homeland to the feet of the Divine Teacher. And today, our Savior speaks to us: “Your sins are forgiven. Get up, take your bed, and walk.”
God, bless Ukraine! Bless our children, young women, and men who love You and their homeland. Bless all who perform works of mercy, who come to our aid, who—like volunteer fighters—save lives in Ukraine today. Lord, bless our Motherland, our beloved Ukrainian land, with Your just and 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.
