Ukraine: The war has caused “many conversions,” says Sviatoslav Shevchuk

During a visit to the headquarters of the Spanish national office of ACN, the primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church spoke of the role of priests as “wounded healers” in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine is a time of pain for Ukrainians, but also a time of grace, when many Ukrainians are turning to God, said the head and father of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

“This is the most significant period of conversion in the recent history of our nation,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav made his remarks while visiting the national office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Spain. He was in the country for a meeting of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, held in Madrid.

“Ukraine is defending peace in Europe with its own blood. This is not a metaphor, this is reality,” said the patriarch. War has forced Ukrainians to ask themselves existential questions, he said: “Why? Does my pain have a meaning? Is there hope? Where is God in the midst of this war?”

“And there are no answers to these questions outside of the Christian Faith,” Sviatoslav said. “That is why this time of pain is also a kairos, a time of grace during which we are seeing large-scale conversions.”

According to figures he shared, the war has transformed the religious demography of the Eastern European nation. The percentage of citizens who belong to Orthodox Churches has dropped from 70% to around 52%, he said. The Greek Catholic Church, on the other hand, though still a minority, has grown from around 8% of the population to 12%.

Pain’s pastoral significance

Regarding his Church’s current mission, Sviatoslav spoke of the pastoral significance of this painful period. “This is the work we all share — every priest in every parish. We are in mourning. It is painful to preside over countless funerals every day; to bury young people and children. It takes a deep toll on you. Each one of the bishops carries within them the pain of their own people, which we have to share.”

The primate highlighted that “we can console those people who are not looking for miracles, but for presence, the sacrament of the presence of the Church through the priest.”

This presence becomes clearer the closer one gets to the front line. “When the state orders the evacuation of civilians for safety reasons, the priest is always the last to leave.”

Sviatoslav feels that the conflict has been largely forgotten by the international community. “Sometimes we get the feeling that the world does not understand us, that it doesn’t get the scale of this tragedy,” he said. “There are rivers of blood running through Ukraine every day.”

ACN standing with Ukraine

The situation is also very difficult for the clergy. According to a recent survey conducted by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, over half of its priests live below the poverty line, with 38% saying they are unable to buy clothes, and 3% struggling to buy food.

Despite these challenges, “92% of those surveyed said they are happy serving our people. That brought tears to my eyes,” the patriarch said, emphasizing that “the priests have to listen, to accompany and, sometimes, simply remain in silence. What can you say to a mother who has just lost her son?”

ACN is supporting a training and psycho-spiritual rehabilitation program that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church launched, “so that priests and religious can offer adequate pastoral care. They are truly ‘wounded healers.’ This project has high demand in the dioceses.”

The head and father of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church believes that “the war will end, because evil is not eternal. The Lord is eternal, and love is eternal,” he said, calling on the world to “pray hard for our people to be freed from the slavery of war. Today, in Ukraine, hope is real and palpable. In Ukraine, we pray for peace every day.”

– ACN Spain