Metropolitan Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia has made more than 10 pastoral trips to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022, offering pastoral care and solidarity to a suffering people. As the fourth year of the war begins, the archbishop shares experiences he had last autumn among the communities along the front in eastern and southern Ukraine with ONE magazine. Read an excerpt here, then read the full article.
The war is a catalyst. It is behind the dedication of the tiny Ukrainian Greek Catholic community in Lozova, near Kharkiv, whose members pray in a small one-story house and has dedicated an entire room for volunteers to weave camouflage installations.
The war’s devastation is visible in the tears of a young woman we met at the military cemetery near Zaporizhzhia, who had been engaged to a 23-year-old man who fell in battle the previous year. Yet her pain was not self-centered, and she asked us to bless the fresh grave of another soldier, whom she had seen buried without a priest.
The war is close to these people. And my primary mission was to be close to them as well. I wanted to thank them for their resilience, express my respect and assure them of our solidarity. I wanted to tell them we pray every day for the soldiers and the refugees, the wounded, the deceased and all innocent victims. We pray for the conversion of the genocidal aggressors, the alleviation of pain and healing. I hoped to assure the valiant that there are millions of Americans flying the blue-and-yellow flag outside their homes, making donations, and lifting up prayers and petitions for Ukraine. I wanted to assure them Catholics stand firmly with Ukrainians, they understand where truth and falsehood are found, know the difference between good and evil, and honor the valor of those who risk their lives to defend this difference.