Head of UGCC Calls to Keep Peace During Celebration of End of WWII

Patriarch Sviatoslav called everyone to keep peace and not to yield to provocations as he talked about the celebration of the end of WWII during the Ecumenical prayer conducted on 8 May on occasion of the Day of the City of Lviv.

Today I would like to address you with the words of the resurrected Christ: “Peace to you!” Do not let anyone to take that peace from you! The other day, we will observe the end of one of the most cruel wars in human history, the time when the calm has come but when peace is still needed. Let this peace of Christ become for you the strength with which you will be able to withstand any provocations aimed to take that peace from you,” said Patriarch Sviatoslav as he talked about the celebration of the end of WWII during the Ecumenical prayer conducted on May 8 on the occasion of Lviv City Day.

“By the power of the peace of Christ, keep pure the Ukrainian national idea, especially at the time when some people seek to discredit it with discord. Let the peace of Christ be a testimony that the princely city of Lviv will be able to give to the entire Ukraine,” said the hierarch.

The head of the UGCC noted that the Christ’s word “peace” does not mean only the absence of war. The word “peace” means the fullness of life, fulfillment of all the possible aspirations and desires of the human heart. That fullness of life is what Christ has passed to His disciples and to us today, namely, staying in peace and blessing, the Information Department of UGCC reports.

RISU information: On May 9, in Lviv, during the celebration of Victory Day, several clashes occured. In one of them, a representative of the association Svoboda was shot in the leg by a traumatic weapon.