The Head of the UGCC addressed refugees and all Ukrainians: Let us get to work!

This appeal was made by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in his daily video-address on the 40^th day of Russia's war against Ukraine.

“Let us look for work, because the right to work belongs to the dignity of the human person. I am appealing to those who are accepting internally displaced persons: let us create conditions for them to work with dignity so that we can strengthen our country,” urged the Head of the UGCC.

The Archbishop went on to say: “Mountains of corpses, rivers of blood, a sea of ​​tears - these are the three images that describe the icon of contemporary Ukraine. And the depth of this pain is only growing every day.” His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that the war is continuing, bloody battles rage in the North, East and South of Ukraine. The so-called “rocket terrorism” is continuing. Every night, Russian cruise missiles fire upon our cities, destroying homes, killing people, and destroying the critical infrastructure of the economy of Ukraine.

Last night, Ternopil, Odessa, and Mykolaiv were struck. “Ukraine is suffering but it is defending itself. Ukraine is showing the whole world that there are some values, such as love for neighbour and country -- which are worth giving your life for, because that is the way to salvation.  We feel more and more that Ukraine’s struggle is a spiritual one, against evil, the devil, and his minions,” said the Ukrainian spiritual leader.

The Head of the Church remarked that in order to overcome evil, it is not enough to fight against sin, it is necessary to assert and do good. It is not enough to complain about the darkness, you need to light at least one candle. Evil can be fought and overcome with good deeds.

Sorrowfully he said that today we see horrific footage, images of everything that the occupiers left behind on Ukrainian soil. We see the burials of people who were shot in the back of the head. We see destroyed cities and villages, mutilated human destinies.

“That is why we must get to work and continue to defend ourselves. If the enemy kills us and sows death, we must continue to serve life, to honor human life from conception to natural death. We see that the enemy is robbing Ukrainians, stealing, looting… Let us then be benefactors, be generous and support those who need works of Christian mercy,” the Primate said encouragingly.

The Head of the UGCC called upon everyone to get to work and to start building again. We must not only survive the battlefield, but we must rebuild and heal our economy, which has already been cut by fifty percent.

“It is springtime in Ukraine. Let us do everything to make the sowing season take place. Indeed, the Ukrainian land is ready to feed our people. We just need to put our hands and efforts to the task,” urged His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The UGCC Department of Information