Ukrainian Catholic leader: Christmas epistle

December 31, 2014

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the largest of the Eastern Catholic churches in full communion with the Holy See, has published the Christmas epistle of its head, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

“This year, our road to the Nativity was the road towards the wounded and the exiled,” he said. “Our Church in the practical sense became a field hospital, developed in order to give a refuge to those being chased and to heal the wounds of the victims.”

Referring to the demonstrations that led to the February removal of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, the prelate said that “the Maidan was victorious because people prayed fervently and sincerely … Today, let us not permit that due to a certain kind of ‘getting used to war’ we weaken the intensity of our prayers.”

 

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Further information:

• Christmas Epistle of His Beatitude Sviatoslav (UGCC)