Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 187th Week of the Full-Scale War, September 14, 2025
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
The 187th week of this horrendous war is coming to an end, though we remember that the war has been raging for more than ten years on long-suffering Ukrainian soil.
This week will likely be remembered in history—and in European and world history textbooks—as a moment of unprecedented Russian aggression against a united Europe. On September 10, about twenty Russian drones attacked Poland, penetrating 300 kilometers into its territory. Today, we express our solidarity with the Polish people, supporting the statements of the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania, as well as the international community, which voiced its solidarity at the United Nations Security Council.
More than ever, the world understands that Russia is trying not only to export war to other European countries but also to test the resilience of international opposition to aggression. Today, we declare once again: war is a crime, a sacrilege against God, and a crime against humanity.
In Poland, an entire family lost their home when a Russian drone struck it. Every day and every night, Russians are killing civilians in Ukraine. This week, we mourn the residents of Kostiantynivka and other towns and villages of Donetsk Oblast, where Russian forces killed elderly pensioners waiting in line to receive their payments.
This has been a week of global concern. But we must reaffirm that only by standing together, united, can we stop this war. Once more, we express our deep gratitude to all the peoples of the world who are fighting for peace—for peace in Ukraine—and who are striving in every possible way to stay the deadly hand of the Russian aggressor.
On the front lines—in Donbas, in Zaporizhzhia, in Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv—our men and women know that they are shielding Europe’s peace and prosperity with their own bodies. Peace in Europe is not guaranteed forever, nor can it be taken for granted. It must be defended.
That is why today we proclaim once more: Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
This week began in our church pastoral life with a visit by Eastern Catholic bishops from Europe to Vienna, Austria. We all gathered there, about 60 bishops from different Churches, not only from the Byzantine tradition but also representatives of the Syro-Malabar Church, the Maronite Church, the Ethiopian Church, and the Armenian Church, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Barbareum — a school, college, and university founded in the then Austro-Hungarian Empire to give Greek Catholics access to education, the opportunity to study, and obtain a quality European education.
The Barbareum in Vienna offered Greek Catholics in Galicia—then under Austro-Hungarian rule—the opportunity to transform themselves from a regional phenomenon into creators and co-creators of European culture. For our Church, this is a special anniversary, as St. Barbara’s Church in Vienna was, is, and will remain a special historical center for the gathering of Ukrainians in Austria. It is a church that has played and continues to play a major role in the life of our community in Austria.
The Eastern Catholic bishops of Europe convened with the aim of sharing their joys and sorrows. We encountered tremendous solidarity and support from our confreres in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and other European countries.
We expressed our gratitude to our brothers bishops for welcoming our people. The Maronite archbishop in Cyprus established a personal parish for Ukrainian Greek Catholics. This is one example of solidarity, support, and very concrete pastoral care for our faithful.
It was also a unique opportunity for us to speak to the Austrian government on behalf of Ukrainian immigrants in Austria. About half a million Ukrainians live in Austria. However, after the outbreak of full-scale war, this country, with a population of just over 9 million, accepted 85,000 of our refugees. Interestingly, our people quickly integrated into the Austrian community and society, learned the language, and only a third of them receive social assistance and benefits from Austria. Thus, the Austrian state understands that Ukrainians are becoming an important part of the European space and Austrian society.
This week also marked a very special intellectual event in Gniezno, Poland, the city where the Polish people were baptized. This year, Poles commemorated the millennium of the coronation of the first Polish king. But on that occasion, in the context of current international events, we thought together about how to build peace. The Gniezno conferences bring together intellectuals, church, public, and state figures from Central and Eastern Europe.
The theme of this year’s congress was “The Courage of Peace.” Indeed, in order to build a true and just peace, one must be courageous. On the part of Ukraine, we have testified that true peace does not imply pacifism. That true peace is never built by appeasing the aggressor and pacifying the victim. True peace is a space of dignity and freedom; it is a space of life. And when any international treaties do not provide the Ukrainian people with a free, dignified, peaceful life on their homeland, such treaties will not yield any success because they cannot guarantee a space of life.
Yesterday, in our beautiful city of Wrocław in western Poland, we celebrated a special day of joy — the ordination of a new Ukrainian bishop in Poland. Our Wrocław-Koszalin Eparchy has received an auxiliary bishop. We extend our love and care to the new Bishop Mariusz Dmyerko, and we came to Wrocław to share in this joy together.
Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross. It is a special feast celebrated by all Christians of different churches and denominations, all Christians who have preserved the unbroken apostolic tradition from the first centuries of Christianity. The Holy Cross, brought before our eyes by the archbishop, is the key to victory, the sign of victory over sin and death, the symbol of man’s triumph over all the diabolical actions in the modern world, in modern society. The Cross is the key to understanding the meaning of our sufferings.
We Christians believe that our Savior Jesus Christ, who himself suffered, walked into the darkest aspect of human existence, and continues to suffer with the Ukrainian people today. But through his wounds, we are healed. Through the power of Christ, today we have hope for victory and resurrection, hope that sin, suffering, and death will never have the last word. That is why we call this Cross of the Lord the Honorable and Life-Giving Tree of Life.
Today we pray: Lord, bless Ukraine! God, help all those who seek peace to find it! Help everyone today—our servicemen, statesmen, diplomats, leaders of the great states of Europe and the world—to find the path to true peace in the modern world!
God, bless Ukraine with Your righteous, 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.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
