ROME — Ukrainian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk declared Monday that nearly a third of the population of Ukraine has become either refugees or forcibly displaced persons in the half year since Russia invaded.
Noting that Monday was the 194th day of “the great war,” Archbishop Shevchuk said he is counting the days for a reason: “because this war is a great crime against man, against humanity.”
“This is a war not seen in terms of intensity and scale since the end of World War II,” the archbishop stated in a video message. “And we have no right to get used to this war. And we have no right to accept it in our minds as something usual and normal.”
Since the beginning of the war, 3,500 rockets have been fired over Ukraine, Shevchuk said, which is “an absolute record in the history of modern warfare.”
Moreover, he continued, upwards of “7,000 civilians were killed and 5,500 were wounded. And this is only according to official statistics. And the reality could be much greater.”
On Sunday, 14 Russian missiles were fired at the cities and villages of Ukraine, and 15 airstrikes were carried out, he said.
“The world has no right to get used to this war. With its scale and intensity, this war is an open wound of modern humanity,” he declared.
Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Almoner of His Holiness, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Pope Francis’s envoy to Ukraine, and Archbishop Mechyslav Mokshytskyi (R to L) partake in an ecumenical prayer for ending the war and restoring peace in Ukraine. (Alona Nikolaievych/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
The archbishop said that the Ukrainian people “don’t just believe,” but “know that Ukraine will win.”
“And we really think about the fact that good, correct conclusions and lessons can be drawn even from this dramatic war,” he added.
In a particular way, Shevchuk addressed the youth of Ukraine, young girls and boys, telling them that “today it is on your shoulders that the entire burden of this war has fallen.”
“It is the Ukrainian youth, girls and boys, who are defending their homeland today,” he said. “Today you are choosing the right for a free, independent Ukraine to exist.”
The archbishop also called on his hearers to pray together “for modern humanity to be able to overcome war, to prevent it.”
“We thank the Lord God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which restrain the advance of enemy troops, thus restraining this military aggression which has appetites far beyond the borders or only the front lines on Ukrainian soil,” he said.
“Let the wind of hope drive out of Ukraine the spirit of every hostile design,” he declared. “Let the wind of hope give our youth the prospect of a new, free life in their homeland.”
“O God, bless Ukraine! O God, bless our youth! O God, bless our army! O God, give Ukraine a just peace!” he concluded.