In an interview with Vatican News, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said that Ukrainians will join the prayer vigil for peace led by Pope Leo at St. Peter’s on the eve of Eastern Easter. He expressed the hope for a world without war and for Ukraine to enjoy a genuine, just, and lasting peace.
By Svitlana Dukhovych
“Human fragility in the context of war has become the fragility of Christ himself.” But the testimonies of Ukrainian children who were kidnapped and then released “show that fragility is revealing a strength of the Lord present among us.”
In an interview with Vatican News, the Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyč and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, said this as he reflected on the fifth Easter that Ukraine will experience under a state of war on Sunday, April 12.
He also reiterated the message of Pope Leo XIV, who will preside over the Prayer Vigil for Peace at St. Peter’s Basilica this evening: “War will not prevail. Children have the right to an authentic, just, and lasting peace.”
Your Beatitude, what thoughts would you like to share on the occasion of the celebration of Eastern Easter in the context of the large-scale war in Ukraine, which has now lasted more than four years?
Yes, indeed, this is already the fifth Easter celebration during the large-scale war. Our central thought, our central prayer, is the invocation for peace for Ukraine. During Holy Week, in these spiritually most intense moments of the liturgical year, we contemplate Christ: condemned Christ, tortured Christ, crucified Christ, buried Christ, but also risen Christ. These moments of Christ’s passion resonate in a very special way in the hearts of Ukrainians because we know that we are walking the same Way of the Cross together with our Lord Jesus Christ. When we contemplate Jesus Christ condemned, we know that this is our land, our people, who have been condemned to death. When we listened to the testimony of our freed prisoners: the silence of the prisoner in the face of those who condemn and torture him. Many of them perceived it as the silence of Christ before the Sanhedrin. When we heard the testimonies of Ukrainian children who were kidnapped and then released, these children shared with us their feeling of being unable to defend themselves, of being defenseless before the armed oppressor. And this human fragility in the context of war has become the fragility of Christ himself. But these children say that fragility is revealing a strength of the Lord present among us. And when we listened to the testimony of our volunteers who lost their homes, lost everything, and became war-displaced, but did not lose the ability to empathize, the ability to be sensitive to those in need. They became volunteers who save lives and are a living representation of Simon of Cyrene, capable of helping those who fall powerless under their cross.
Pope Leo XIV invited everyone to join him in the vigil for peace tonight at 6 PM. How is this initiative being received in Ukraine?
Obviously, Ukrainians will pray together with the Holy Father and keep vigil for peace. It is a prayer that is not imposed but comes from our hearts. In Ukraine, we will keep vigil at the tomb of Jesus in hope of the Resurrection, because this Saturday in Ukraine is the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Therefore, we are grateful to the Holy Father for this initiative because human consciences need to be sensitized, invited, and sometimes stirred to pray for peace. And we hope that just as Christ rose, being stronger than death, so too the peace of Christ will triumph over war in today’s world.
What message, Your Beatitude, would you like to leave to Christians in different countries of the world?
That the war ends, that children return home, that our soldiers, our defenders, boys and girls, may return safely to their families. That tortured prisoners of war may finally be freed. That Easter truly be a new beginning for a world without wars. An interesting testimony comes from a Ukrainian child from Mariupol who was taken to Russia. His mother is still in a Russian prison, but he was freed thanks to the mediation of the Holy See. He expressed, in a very clear way, the message of peace from Ukrainian children: he said that we do not want the death of the enemy, but only that no child in the world should suffer or go through the suffering that Ukrainian children are now enduring. This testimony was shared during an event: Ukrainian Post issued a stamp dedicated to Pope Leo, and precisely on Holy Thursday, it was presented. This stamp echoed the message of the Holy Father, who said: “War will not prevail. And children have the right to an authentic, just, and lasting peace.” In my view, the words of this child are also the greatest message of peace, carried by the suffering children of Ukraine.
