Interview with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
What role has the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church played since the Russian invasion began, and what voice does it want to project in this conflict?
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk: Our parishes have served as spaces of healing and salvation since 2014, the year marking the beginning of the Crimean conflict. I’d like to share the words of an elderly woman who had to flee her home in Donbas to seek refuge in Kropyvnytskyi (central Ukraine): ‘When I arrived in this big, unknown city, the first thing I needed to do was find a church.’ As if it were the first place she could feel safe.
Today, our communities provide many services to those in need: food, aid for the displaced… We’ve established special logistics to transport goods from western Ukraine and Europe. In the first month of the Russian assault, as Kyiv was nearly encircled, the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, told me: ‘More than the bread and clothing provided by the church, we need words of hope.’ I understood then how the church is not merely a humanitarian organization but truly the body of the risen Christ, able to bear witness to continual hope.
How is your church managing to practice its faith amid bombings?
The priority is first to stay alive. As the Latin phrase says, Primum vivere deinde philosophari (First, we must live; then, we can philosophize). This is why we equip each parish with secure shelters. Our services are often interrupted by air raid alerts, and we must rush to these shelters. Our greatest pastoral challenge, then, is healing wounds and guiding the grieving. These traumas are growing at the heart of our wounded nation. Only the church holds the most effective remedy: the balm of the Holy Spirit. Doctors heal the body; psychologists, the mind; but the church can offer the soul something more, which enhances all other forms of care received.
Is the church able to maintain a connection with the Ukrainian faithful in occupied territories?
In occupied areas, our church is entirely banned and in the process of destruction. One day, the Greek Catholic faithful tried to come to pray at the Donetsk cathedral, only to find it closed, its doors sealed by Russian troops – just as Christ’s tomb was sealed. But we remain confident that Christ will break these seals and reopen our church doors. Regarding connections, our priests outside these territories continue to communicate with the faithful inside, providing them with spiritual advice – especially to hold domestic services in secret, as during Soviet times.
How do you view today’s intra-Orthodox struggles in Ukraine?
All Ukrainian citizens want to defend their country, regardless of religious affiliation. I recall standing before the bodies in Bucha. We realized that when Russian bullets fall, they don’t ask victims about their denomination. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, historically affiliated with Moscow (UOC-MP), is undoubtedly experiencing a significant identity crisis.
We live in a time when Russia is weaponizing religion, even promising forgiveness of sins to those who kill Ukrainians. Imagine how an ordinary Ukrainian feels upon hearing such a promise. In August, the Ukrainian Parliament approved a bill giving UOC-MP parishes nine months to sever ties with Russia. This measure should be seen as a defense of the country.
You were born in 1970 in the Lviv region when the Soviet Union banned the Greek Catholic Church. How did this experience with a “clandestine church” shape your faith and relationship with politics?
Yes, my grandmother secretly passed on the faith to me. From an early age, the church represented a community – not a structure or building, but a people united in God’s name. I remember how this small, persecuted community came out of the shadows just before the fall of the Soviet Union. We lived through the experience of Christ’s resurrection… In totalitarian countries, there is no civil society; everything is controlled by the state. But in these conditions, we were almost the only ones free… And you can take nothing from free people – you can only kill them. This is why, in this tragic moment of our history, these free people are, for me, able to remain so, even staring death in the face every day. That is, to me, the secret of Ukrainian resilience.
Since the first week of the conflict, you have been sending video messages to the world: what do they allow you to express?
At first, I began to let people know I was still alive. It showed that the church remained with its suffering people in Kyiv and continued to pray with them. Then I realized that these videos also had a healing power… I try, through them, to discern through God’s word what it means to be Christian under such conditions. Today, millions follow these messages. Just yesterday, for instance, I denounced crimes against humanity by Russian aggressors and offered reflections on how to overcome these atrocities through Christian spiritual and moral teachings. My message is primarily spiritual, not political. It is meant to encourage people not to give up and to resist the forces of evil that seek to destroy us.
The Ukrainian issue is closely watched in Rome. How do you perceive the role of Vatican diplomacy?
We are grateful to Pope Francis for his neutrality on the issue. Of course, some Ukrainians find it shocking that the Vatican doesn’t take a clearer stance. Many ask, “How can one remain neutral in the face of innocent deaths?” To explain, it is essential to distinguish between diplomatic neutrality and moral neutrality. Rome maintains diplomatic neutrality, which allows the pope to save lives. Each time I meet him, I bring lists of prisoners, the wounded… for him to help. But from a moral standpoint, the Vatican is indeed on Ukraine’s side.
Finally, how do you envision the spiritual reconstruction of the country?
There is much hatred in Ukraine today, and we cannot let it fill our hearts. We believe the capacity to love one’s homeland can be stronger than hatred. Of course, I cannot forbid my people from feeling hatred when witnessing murders. But, we must transform this feeling into courage through the strength of our spirit and will. This is why hope always exists in Ukraine. We must overcome mutual dehumanization, just as Europe did after World War II.
Reproduced with permission from La Croix International.
