On 90th Day of War in Ukraine Archbishop says "Terrible things are unfolding before our eyes… Russian officers, command not only allow the killing of civilians, the rape...but also encourage it."
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Ukraine Head of the Catholic Eastern Church daily address from Ukraine:
Christ is Risen!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, Ukraine is experiencing the 90th day of this bloody war that Russia has launched against our people and our state.
Ukraine has been standing for three months now. He is fighting against the enemy, who many times surpasses us in numbers and weapons… Indeed, today in Ukraine, David opposes Goliath.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, Ukraine is experiencing the 90th day of this bloody war that Russia has launched against our people and our state.
Ukraine has been standing for three months now. He is fighting against the enemy, who many times surpasses us in numbers and weapons… Indeed, today in Ukraine, David opposes Goliath.
Almost the entire eastern front is on fire. Our cities and villages suffer from total war: the enemy destroys everything in its path. Our Luhansk and Donetsk regions are on fire. The enemy is shelling Mykolayiv and Dnipropetrovsk region. Our Kharkiv region is fighting bravely. The enemy is again accumulating weapons on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border and on the Russian border in the north of our state. So even the recently liberated territories are once again suffering from almost daily hostile attacks.
But Ukraine stands. Ukraine is struggling. And we are grateful to the Ukrainian defenders for seeing a new morning and being able to talk and meditate on God's word. Today, we feel that the Ukrainian people have united as never before in the name of defending their homeland.
Today I would like to continue thinking about the so-called sins of others. One of those sins is allowing sin. Every time we create a space in our personal or public life for crimes, when we directly or indirectly allow ourselves to sin, we become complicit in the crimes that take place. By allowing sin, we become responsible for what the sinner does.
This kind of sin has now become apparent in Ukraine. Many international investigators have come to our country to investigate and study Russian war crimes committed on Ukrainian soil. Terrible things are unfolding before our eyes… We see that the Russian army, Russian officers, command not only allow the killing of civilians, the rape of women, children, men, and in public, but also encourage it. The atrocities against our civilian population are becoming an integral part of this ideological war against the Ukrainian people. This is a war on crimes that the world describes as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
He who allows murder and rape becomes a murderer and a rapist. In the context of the study, the disclosure of these crimes against humanity, the speech of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church at the 30th International Educational Readings held in the Kremlin is glaring. Patriarch Kirill called on teachers of the basics of Orthodox culture to raise children on the examples of so-called heroes who are currently fighting in Ukraine and allegedly defending Russia with weapons in their hands. The speaker did not clearly indicate what examples he meant, but today - when we hear the cries and groans of crippled souls in Ukraine, the voice of the blood of innocent murdered women, children and men calling from God to the earth - bursts from the heart of ordinary people weeping: God, save and preserve all people from such an Orthodox culture!
God, teach us to love! God, teach us to love and forgive in love for God, for You and for our neighbor! God, give us the strength not to create space for sin, for crimes in our personal lives, in our culture, in our world! God, accept the tears, cries, prayers of millions of Ukrainians, victims of this war! God, heal the wounds of Your children! God, bless the Ukrainian army and grant peace to all of us, Your humanity, and save us from the crimes of war!
But Ukraine stands. Ukraine is struggling. And we are grateful to the Ukrainian defenders for seeing a new morning and being able to talk and meditate on God's word. Today, we feel that the Ukrainian people have united as never before in the name of defending their homeland.
Today I would like to continue thinking about the so-called sins of others. One of those sins is allowing sin. Every time we create a space in our personal or public life for crimes, when we directly or indirectly allow ourselves to sin, we become complicit in the crimes that take place. By allowing sin, we become responsible for what the sinner does.
This kind of sin has now become apparent in Ukraine. Many international investigators have come to our country to investigate and study Russian war crimes committed on Ukrainian soil. Terrible things are unfolding before our eyes… We see that the Russian army, Russian officers, command not only allow the killing of civilians, the rape of women, children, men, and in public, but also encourage it. The atrocities against our civilian population are becoming an integral part of this ideological war against the Ukrainian people. This is a war on crimes that the world describes as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
He who allows murder and rape becomes a murderer and a rapist. In the context of the study, the disclosure of these crimes against humanity, the speech of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church at the 30th International Educational Readings held in the Kremlin is glaring. Patriarch Kirill called on teachers of the basics of Orthodox culture to raise children on the examples of so-called heroes who are currently fighting in Ukraine and allegedly defending Russia with weapons in their hands. The speaker did not clearly indicate what examples he meant, but today - when we hear the cries and groans of crippled souls in Ukraine, the voice of the blood of innocent murdered women, children and men calling from God to the earth - bursts from the heart of ordinary people weeping: God, save and preserve all people from such an Orthodox culture!
God, teach us to love! God, teach us to love and forgive in love for God, for You and for our neighbor! God, give us the strength not to create space for sin, for crimes in our personal lives, in our culture, in our world! God, accept the tears, cries, prayers of millions of Ukrainians, victims of this war! God, heal the wounds of Your children! God, bless the Ukrainian army and grant peace to all of us, Your humanity, and save us from the crimes of war!
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