"We would like to be the voice of the suffering Ukraine", Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk about the visit to Rome

Yesterday Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, leader of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, with bishops of Permanent Synod celebrated a hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the high altar of the Roman basilica of St Mary Major. A very large number of priests concelebrated; the liturgy was sung by the choir of the Ukrainian College of St Josaphat, and the central nave of the church was packed with the faithful, informs Gregory DiPippo.

The sermon was given in Ukrainian, but at the end of the ceremony, His Beatitude briefly addressed in Italian those who might happen to be present as pilgrims in the basilica, which is of course a focal point of the Jubilee celebrations and devotions in Rome. He spoke of the persecutions which the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has undergone over the years, and how “the voice of the Evil One” (la voce del maligno) tried 70 years ago to force the Church which he leads to renounce its fidelity to See of Peter. He then stated that the same voice now seeks to convince them to become Orthodox or join the Patriarchate of Moscow “so as not to be an obstacle.” The celebration of the Divine Liturgy in a Pontifical Basilica in Rome, therefore, is a concrete sign of the continuing fidelity of the UGCC to the See of Peter.

Photo credit - Marc Williams