On April 15, at the residence of the Head of the UGCC in Kyiv, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the UGCC met with Esteban Facco, the new head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ukraine. The meeting took place at the request of Mr. Facco.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the general humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the possibility of coordinating the social service of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with the UN structural unit headed by Mr. Facco.
The participants of the meeting stressed that today a very important part of the humanitarian mission is to serve the truth. According to the Head of the UGCC, it is significant that the partners of the UGCC and Ukraine around the world who want to help Ukraine know the truth about what is happening here.
Therefore, the Primate called on Mr. Esteban Facco to inform the United Nations about the situation in Ukraine, since the current Russian war against Ukraine is the largest and most intense by the number of weapons used daily since World War II.
During the meeting, Esteban Facco noted that there is a need for the Churches in Ukraine to call for an Easter ceasefire so that humanitarian aid can be delivered to those who need it most now. It would also be much appreciated if the Churches contributed to the opening of humanitarian borders.
The Head of the UGCC informed that today the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations had published an appeal for security during the celebration of religious holidays, since over the next ten days Easter is celebrated by Jews and Christians of different denominations. He also recalled that on Palm Sunday Pope Francis had called for a ceasefire.
According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the main obstacle to calling a truce is that since Russia attacked Ukraine, it is Russia which must cease the fire. “Ukraine cannot stop defending itself. We defend ourselves. If Russia has the good will to stop the attack, then we will be able to join this ceasefire”, said the Head of the UGCC.