Archbishop Mark Coleridge, president of the Australian Episcopal Conference, sent a letter of solidarity to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, head of the UGCC, in which Australian bishops call Russian aggression against Ukraine a genocide.
Source: UGCC Information Department
"This is not just a local conflict in some distant country. It has serious consequences for Europe and for the whole world, even for Australia. This is not just a struggle for democracy against authoritarianism; it is a battle for freedom against slavery, for truth against lies, for life against death, for good against evil. In such a battle, the Church cannot remain neutral, which is why we are writing to you to express our unconditional solidarity with you and your people," the letter from the head of the Australian Catholic episcopate reads.
The bishops of Australia definitely call the Russian invasion of Ukraine "genocide, which corresponds to the long-standing model of denying Ukraine's right to exist. But Ukraine exists, it has withstood all attempts to destroy it. The same indomitable spirit is also evident now, when the Ukrainian people are resisting the aggressor, and this greatly inspires all of us."
"We pray from the bottom of our hearts that the Mother of God may protect Ukraine, as she protected it in the past. May the Ukrainian people defeat the offensive of the forces of darkness by the power of her resurrected son, and may the truth, freedom and life prevail," the Catholic Bishops of Australia conclude in their letter.