Video-message of the Head of the UGCC on the 168th Week of Full-Scale War, May 4, 2025
Christ is risen!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
We continue to count the days and nights, the weeks of this brutal war in Ukraine. It has now been 168 weeks since the war began—a war that is a crime, claiming hundreds of lives every day; a war that is always a defeat for humanity, as the late Pope Francis said.
Regrettably, it seems the world is gradually forgetting. Here in Rome, the words “Ukraine” and “war” are mentioned less and less in the news. Various meetings, negotiations, and newly signed agreements are drawing more attention, while the tragedy—the pain and bloodshed in Ukraine—is being pushed aside.
This past week, each night brought new casualties. The enemy continues launching massive attacks on our cities. Odessa, Zaporizhia, and Kharkiv have all been targeted in recent days. On the front lines, Russian forces carry out more than 150 attacks every day, attempting to seize more territory.
The world is losing sight of the fact that thousands of people are dying in Ukraine every day. According to official Ukrainian sources, the Russians are losing over a thousand soldiers daily—with no possibility of return.
The enemy is constantly modifying its drones. We have learned that they are now being loaded with explosives. These drones lie in wait, detonating when someone approaches the wreckage—continuing to harm even after being shot down.
We were recently horrified by the story of Viktoria Roshchyna, a young Ukrainian journalist. The Russians arrested her in the occupied territories, subjected her to brutal torture, and returned her body to Ukraine without several of her internal organs. This is a heinous crime!
We hope the world will hear the pain, the cries—the voice of blood—from Ukraine. That it will once again hear: Ukraine stands. Ukraine fights. Ukraine prays.
Our Church—in Ukraine, in Rome, and throughout the world—is praying for the repose of Pope Francis. A novena is currently underway: nine days of unceasing prayer for the deceased Holy Father. At the same time, we are also praying—especially during the Divine Liturgy—for the grace of the Holy Spirit in the election of a new successor to the Apostle Peter.
It is important to emphasize that the election of new ministers in the Church is fundamentally different from elections in secular, governmental, or public institutions. It is not about votes influenced by lobbying groups, but about the spiritual ability to recognize the one whom the Lord has chosen and marked. That is why it is so vital that the cardinals of the Roman Church, who will gather for the Conclave, possess the spiritual discernment to recognize the one whom God is calling to serve the Universal Church. I invite all of you to pray for this spiritual discernment, for those entrusted with choosing the next successor to the Apostle Peter in our time.
This Sunday—the second after Easter—is, in our tradition, the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women. Today, we especially honor the dignity and vocation of women in the life of the Church. On this day, we express our gratitude to our women, mothers, sisters, and communities of consecrated life for their evangelizing and catechetical mission in our Church and among our people. For it was to women that God entrusted the most important message in human history. At the empty tomb, they received from the angel the good news that Christ had risen from the dead. They were the first to proclaim the Resurrection—even to the Apostles themselves.
And so today, we thank our faithful women—mothers, grandmothers, and sisters—who pass on the faith to their children, relatives, and loved ones. We thank all those who tirelessly proclaim to the Church, to Ukraine, and to the world that Christ is truly risen!
God, bless Ukraine! God, bless our men and women on the front lines! God, bless our families—our fathers and mothers—that they may teach their children to believe in You! God, call many to our monasteries and communities of consecrated life, that the apostolic mission of our Church may be fulfilled in today’s world and in the midst of current challenges! God, inspire the hearts and minds of the powerful to seek a just peace for Ukraine! God, bless our land, our people, our state, and our Church 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.
Christ is risen!
