On February 25, 2025, in Toronto (Canada), Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, delivered a speech at the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto. He called on the international community to unwaveringly support Ukraine in its struggle for a just peace and emphasized the moral responsibility of the Western world in countering Russian aggression.
The moderator of the lecture by the Head of the UGCC at the Andrey Sheptytsky Institute was the well-known historian and publicist Timothy Snyder.
First of all, the Primate of the UGCC, on behalf of all Ukrainians, expressed deep gratitude to the entire Canadian people for their support, “the goodwill and hope that Canada has shared with us.”
“Today we are potentially standing on the threshold of another year of air raid sirens, another year of massacres, terror and deaths. What will make Putin abandon his plans: plans to destroy my people, my country, my Church? After three years of war, I can answer with confidence — only our moral purity, our unity in courage and our joint decisive actions, by God’s grace,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.
He thanked Canada for sheltering almost 300,000 displaced Ukrainians and for financial support for the defense, economic and humanitarian needs of Ukraine. The Head of the UGCC noted that “a just peace for Ukraine requires not only material support, but also unwavering commitment to the cause of defending the truth.”
“Today, Ukraine is paying a high price for its freedom, for the honor of its name. Russian propaganda has been trying to destroy our national identity for centuries, convincing the West that Ukraine is a “failed state”. But we know: if there is no Ukraine, there will be no truth, and the world will again find itself in the darkness of imperial evil”, — emphasized the Father and Head of the UGCC.
Separately, His Beatitude Sviatoslav focused on the humanitarian crimes committed by the Russians in the occupied territories. He also noted that “… the desire of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to be next to our people on the front line is given at a very high price and is exposed to great danger”.
Recalling the content of the Address of the Permanent Synod of the UGCC on the occasion of the third anniversary of the war, the Head of the UGCC repeated: “Ukrainians will never return to colonial status. Ukrainians will never submit to the policy of genocide. Our people will not give up their cultural, religious and social freedom. Ukrainians will never sacrifice their children.”
At the end of his speech, His Beatitude Sviatoslav addressed Canadian society with a call for three key actions: to defend the truth, to pray and to help.
“If we engage in these three activities together — to defend, to pray and to help — as one Body of Christ, we will be able to stand firm against the darkness that comes with lies and violence, and preach with unwavering confidence: Evil will not prevail. Truth, love and justice — they will endure,” concluded the Father and Head of the UGCC.
Timothy Snyder, an American historian and writer, in his speech emphasized the importance of truth in Russia’s war against Ukraine, distinguishing it between objective — the facts about the events, and subjective — the human experience of the community experiencing the war. Snyder pointed out that “the war began because of the denial of both factual truths and the right of Ukrainians to exist as a people, and the inability of others to recognize the courage of Ukrainians often gives rise to lies.” He concluded his speech by reading a poem by Ostap Slyvynsky, which emphasizes the experience of war, which is impossible to explain to those who have not experienced it.
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