Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 215th Week of the Full-Scale War, March 29, 2026
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 215th week of this horrendous war—a week of pain, blood, fire, and destruction that the Russian occupier brings to Ukrainian soil day and night.
Once again, we thank God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine—our young men and women on the front lines—for keeping us alive. This week, we stood our ground, repelled all enemy attacks, and continue to live, build our future, and dream of what a true and just peace for Ukraine should look like.
This week, across all parts of Ukraine, we have endured the consequences of Russian airstrikes. Our hearts are with Kharkiv, where drones and missiles struck high-rise buildings and residential homes, leaving many injured and causing extensive destruction. We grieve the losses in our city of Odesa and throughout the region. It is horrifying to see what also happened this week in Zaporizhzhia.
However, what perhaps disturbed Ukraine and the international community most were the strikes by Russian drones on the historic center of Lviv. A drone struck the architectural complex of the 17th-century Bernardine Monastery. These drones flew past St. Andrew’s Church, and the shockwave damaged both the bell tower and the stained-glass windows.
On the same day, our city of Ivano-Frankivsk was also targeted, as the enemy cynically struck the city’s maternity hospital. It was only thanks to the professionalism of our medical staff that injuries to women preparing to give birth were prevented. Nevertheless, we have suffered losses. A father and his 19-year-old daughter were killed as they rushed to the maternity hospital to be with their wife and mother, who had just given birth. These innocent victims lost their lives at the very threshold of this building.
We once again appeal to the international community and thank UNESCO for condemning this crime against cultural heritage. We reiterate that strikes on museums, archives, and cultural sites—which constitute not only Ukraine’s heritage but also UNESCO-recognized world heritage—are unacceptable. It is absolutely unacceptable that Russian drones are striking healthcare facilities, including maternity hospitals.
We express our solidarity and condolences to the families of the deceased. Yet even in the midst of this war, we want the whole world to hear the voice of Ukraine: Ukraine stands. Ukraine fights. Ukraine prays.
Given these crimes against culture, civilization, and humanity, this week’s meeting with Ms. Tetiana Berezhna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Minister of Culture, was particularly significant. We discussed the role of the Church in preserving our people’s cultural heritage. We also reflected on the righteous Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, who founded the National Museum in Lviv through his endowment.
We spoke about the work of the Commission on Culture and Sacred Art of the Patriarchal Curia of our Church and about how to coordinate our cooperation with the state so that, even during wartime, we can jointly preserve our cultural heritage for posterity.
This conversation was also important in terms of state—Church relations, particularly regarding certain shrines from the era of the Kyivan principality, which serve as symbols of unity. They remind us of the one and undivided Kyivan Church. We reflected on how these symbols of unity should function today—so that they may serve as a platform, a space for the unity of all Christians in Ukraine. We also emphasized the important mediating role of the state, which must guarantee equal rights for all denominations and the opportunity to pray at these historical sites—sites that are not only cultural landmarks, but also expressions of our unity and spiritual identity.
This week, Christians who follow the Western liturgical calendar are already celebrating Palm Sunday. Here in Ukraine, we follow the Eastern liturgical calendar and, together with our Orthodox brothers, have just marked the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent.
Our communities, spread across the globe, are now entering Holy Week.
Yet amid these different rhythms of our liturgical life, we pray to the same Savior, whom we encounter today in the life of our Church through the Holy Sacraments. Christ, of whom we read in the Gospel, comes to us through the sacraments of His Church.
As we prepare for Easter, we invite everyone to the sacraments of Penance, Confession, and Holy Communion.
As we prepare for Easter, our adult catechumens are preparing for baptism. On Easter night, the Church traditionally gives birth to new Christians, administering the Sacrament of Baptism—the sacrament of new creation and rebirth in Christ through water and the Spirit. This is the moment when God’s power strengthens human weakness and opens for us the path to life and resurrection. I invite everyone to encounter Christ, who comes to us in the sacraments of His Church.
This week, our Church also remembered the decision of the Electoral Synod of Bishops held 15 years ago. We gratefully recalled the late Pope Benedict XVI, who confirmed the Synod’s choice of a new leader for our Church in that historical moment.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all those who sent me greetings. There were thousands of them, from different countries and in many languages. Since I am unable to thank each of you personally, please accept my gratitude in this way for your kind words, your remembrance, and especially for your prayers offered for my humble person on this special day.
May the Lord reward a hundredfold all those who pray for the Head of our Church, who support us, and who help us grow in Christ—in holiness and in unity—thus fulfilling the mission entrusted to us by God in these difficult times.
We pray: Lord, bless our people and our Church! Lord, stop this terrible war! Grant our people, our Church, and our Ukrainian land 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.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
