In Daily Message of the Head of the Ukraine Catholic Church - Beatitude Sviatoslav Laments 3 Million Refugees and Female Victims of Rape in the War
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's Daily Message from Ukraine:
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today is March 17, 2022, and we are already experiencing the 22nd day of the war. We are starting the fourth week of this horrible, unjust aggression against Ukraine.
However, every morning I can tell you that Ukraine is standing, Ukraine is fighting. As our national anthem says, “neither glory nor freedom has died in Ukraine yet. Fate will smile on us, Ukrainian brothers. "
When we talk about our Motherland, our Ukraine, which stands, fights, the figure of a woman appears before our eyes as a symbol of Ukraine, as one who bears the unspeakable burden of war, who watches over life in the midst of the sea of death, who builds and protects the future.
Communicating daily with people who come to our parishes, in particular in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Odessa, we see first of all women who care about the elderly and feed their children. When we care about our people hiding in bomb shelters, we also see women first and foremost.
Today, a woman is a symbol of strength and courage of Ukraine. Strange combination - courage and woman. The word "courage" has always been associated with her husband, but here we see a woman's strength that gives Ukraine hope. Today we pray with gratitude for our girls and women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine who are defending the Motherland with weapons in their hands.
We pray with sympathy for the women who are victims of this war in the occupied territories. In our villages, in particular in Kyiv region, women become the first victims of occupation, victims of violence, humiliation, rape ...
We look at the face of a woman who is forced to leave her homeland with her children and go abroad. Today we are talking about more than three million refugees from Ukraine. So far, Europe, particularly Italy, has seen women go to work: Pope Francis has called them heroines who have reintroduced the Christian faith, Christian values into Italian families. Now Europe has seen mothers holding the hand of their children to escape the war, and men staying home to defend their land with weapons in hand.
Who can fully understand the pain of a woman mourning her son who was killed in the war, who lost her husband, brother or sister in the war? that day and night with raised hands prays for his city, for his land. Today, women are a hope for our people, a symbol of fearlessness, the victory of life over death - a symbol of the fact that Ukraine will survive even in such inhuman circumstances.
We pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary in preparation for the consecration of Ukraine and Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, proclaimed by Pope Francis. And today we want to dedicate Ukraine and the women of Ukraine under the protection of the Blessed Virgin.
The blessing of the Lord be upon you with His grace and love of man always, now, and forever and ever. Amen.
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