Archbishop Shevchuk: ‘Despite the ocean of pain hope is still alive in Ukraine’

By Svitlana Dukhovych

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk speaks of pain but even more of hope as he reflects on the thousand days of war which, since February 2022, have devastated his country, Ukraine. In an interview with Vatican Media, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church reiterated his condemnation of the war, calling it “senseless and sacrilegious,” and renewed his call on behalf of the Ukrainian people not to abandon him: “Don’t leave us alone,” he said. “Continue to support us, even in silence.”

Your Beatitude, What are the dominant emotions that Ukrainians feel today after a thousand days of war, also taking into account the latest Russian attacks?
Major Archbishop Shevchuk .- If we talk about emotions, on the one hand we observe a deep and growing feeling of pain. People are deeply hurt because every day we face the terrible face of death and destruction. On the other hand, looking at how we have lived the last thousand days, the dominant feeling is hope – or rather the virtue and ability to maintain hope. Because without hope, it is impossible to live in Ukraine today. When we see how Ukrainian energy infrastructure workers start again and again after each missile strike and repair the damage within a few hours, or how our doctors, despite the dangers, rescue people from destroyed houses and save lives, then, at aside from pain, there is hope. Hope arises from people belonging to different professions, social groups and regions of Ukraine.

When you experience the bombings, the shaking of your house, and the terrible roar of the bombs, you feel as if you are plunged into spiritual darkness, crying out, “Lord, where are you?” Why did you abandon me? like Jesus on the Cross. Yet the God who seemed absent at that moment reveals himself, and the Church witnesses a profound conversion – a conversion of priests, bishops, monks and faithful, as well as those who are estranged from the ‘Church. People are rediscovering God as the source of their lives in the midst of disaster and pain. This is the essence of spiritual and ecclesial life: to lose and find, to pass through destruction and emerge into a different world, society or country. This is why everyone says that the Ukraine that existed before February 24, 2022 no longer exists. We must rediscover this people, this country and among them the Church of Christ.

God’s most precious gift is life. In Ukraine, many families mourn the loss of loved ones who died at the front or in bombings. How does the Church help people continue to love and protect life?
Major Archbishop Shevchuk In these circumstances, we feel immersed in an ocean of pain. Human suffering is a mystery, and the Church follows the example of Jesus Christ, who entered the depths of human suffering to show the way out. We have learned important lessons.

The first is not to rush to say: “I understand you”. Many people abroad, including friends, say, “We understand you,” but these words cause deep pain because you cannot say to a young man who has lost his legs, “I understand you.”

The second is the importance of simply being present, even if we can’t say anything. The sacrament of presence is crucial. We ask: “Keep silent, but stay with us. Don’t leave us alone. The presence of the Church is a sacrament which makes visible the real presence of the Lord among his people.

The third lesson, just as important, is the power of the Word. It carries strength, life, hope and God’s ability to renew our human and spiritual resources. The Word of the Gospel is truly life: it is not just a beautiful phrase or a metaphor. I saw with my own eyes how when I spoke the Word of God, it literally brought people back to life. It’s a miracle!

In many interviews we hear Ukrainians say that they are the first to want peace, but what is happening unfortunately seems to push that goal even further away. What is the source of hope for a just and lasting peace for this tormented country?

We found that this source of hope is not found outside Ukraine, abroad, but within us. They gave us three days…and now we are talking about 1,000 days of a senseless, blasphemous and sacrilegious war. We have seen that there is within us a bubbling source of resistance, of resilience, of hope, which becomes a political, military and diplomatic issue.

The aggressor wants to destroy this bubbling source, refuses to recognize its existence and seeks to destroy it with missiles, bombs, tanks. And sometimes this source of hope also creates problems for politicians: many see Ukraine as a problem. But they do not understand that it is in this source that lies the solution to many injustices and to many situations in the modern world which is losing its humanity. Even diplomats are challenged by this source of hope and resilience in Ukraine; they are looking for various peace formulas, political negotiation formulas, but so far they have not found them. I believe that this source certainly does not have a purely human origin: every day, we see our human strength exhausted and then replenished. There is a spark of life.

Would you like to add anything else?

Major Archbishop Shevchuk I would like to add that today in Ukraine we are truly experiencing something that transcends the boundaries of a single nation, a single country or even a single Church. The true face of humanity is revealed and those who are able to recognize it will understand that today’s Ukraine is not a problem but part of the solution.