ROME — Ukrainian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said Sunday that the Ukrainian army is taking the upper hand and slowly reconquering land taken by the Russian invaders.
While lamenting further missile attacks on Odesa, the bombing of Kharkiv and Mykolayiv, and especially the ongoing assault on Mariupol, Archbishop Shevchuk asserted that Ukraine is still standing and “the Ukrainian army is gradually liberating our land from the Russian occupier.”
We have seen “joyful footage from several villages around Kharkiv,” the archbishop said in his video message, which have been “liberated by the Ukrainian army.”
“We saw tears of joy on the faces of older women who kissed and hugged their liberators. Ukraine prays for an end to this war,” he said.
In his message Sunday, Shevchuk noted that Ukraine has suffered 67 days of this “brutal war, this confrontation of our people with the Russian aggressor.”
The archbishop concluded with prayers to God for Ukraine and for its “victory over evil.”
“May the Lord God show His face in Ukraine,” he said. “May He bless Ukraine through pure-hearted people who, even in the circumstances of a brutal war, know how to maintain their purity.”
These are people “who look into the face of God and then see His image in every person and they try to serve God present in another person. Such people are already blessed. Such people rejoice in the purity of their hearts and see God,” he said.
“May purity of heart be our strength in these military circumstances so that it might be our guarantee of victory over evil,” he added. “O God, bless Ukraine! O God, bless the Ukrainian army!”
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