His Beatitude Sviatoslav: “Today the middle class is leaving Ukraine – we cannot be unperturbed by this.”

The statement was made by the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shewchuk) during an interview on Radio Svoboda, in answer to the question about  his attitude  toward reproaches made to Ukrainian emigrants, that they are acting irresponsibly towards the fate of their native country, that they are traitors. “I do not consider them traitors,” said the UGCC Primate, “I worked among emigrants – both in Greece and in Italy.  And now I attempt to go everywhere where there are our people without their own adequate social structures.  These are good people who left Ukraine not for an easy life or in search of a better climate.  Perhaps they are even the best people.” Therefore, he is convinced that the UGCC is attempting to do everything in order that, on the one hand, society changes in Ukraine, and on the other hand, that our people who are outside of their native land, have pastoral care in their communities within their own churches, in their own rite and in their native language. “We follow our people.  I would say that the geography of our Church today is a geography of the moves of our emigrants (concerning our Church in the world, outside of Ukraine).  Always, our Church followed our people in order that the Ukrainian world could develop there, where possibly it did not exist, in order that we could see some positive side of the phenomenon of emigration, although – without a doubt – today it is both complex and painful for Ukrainian society,” declared  the UGCC Primate.  

UGCC  Department of Information