From the Head of the UGCC on Day 87: He who issues commands to rape and kill – becomes a rapist and murderer himself

Sunday, 22 May 2022, 23:20

Currently, a battle is raging not only on the front. We are fighting for our economy so that Ukraine’s “chornozem” – its black earth -- can provide bread not only for our people, but for the whole world.

See also:

Shameless theft at the state level, - His Beatitude Sviatoslav on Russia’s attempted annexation of four regions of Ukraine
War denies the paramount human right – to life, - the Head of the UGCC at the meeting of the VRCiRO with the ombudsman
From the Head of the UGCC at the Kyiv Three Saints Theological Seminary: We are starting the new academic year with great trust in the Lord

His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, made this statement in his daily address on the 87th day of the war.

The Primate noted that the war has not abated, and that hostilities continue to rage along the entirety of the front lines, while the enemy inflicts active missile strikes on those parts of Ukraine where life had been relatively quiet until now.

“But Ukraine is standing. Ukraine is defending itself. Ukraine is winning, and is defeating evil and all the bearers of evil, and those who want to spread evil in Ukraine and around the world,” he noted.

The Head of the Church observed that Ukraine is not only fighting, but also working, serving, standing, and praying.

On this day, His Beatitude Sviatoslav began a new series of reflections on the second part of the Catechism, the teachings of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, that help us to endure the hardships of war with Christian dignity. The spiritual leader began with a reflection on what are referred to as the sins of others.

“Sin, he stated, is always an affliction, a wound, the beginning of death in this earthly life, and a danger to eternal happiness. We call sin that which a person does consciously and voluntarily as a participant in evil and death. Sin is a voluntary violation of God's warning or commandment.”

According to the Primate, in the modern world where people are greatly detached from each other in a prevailing culture of extreme individualism, there is only personal responsibility for actions, with no collective responsibility.

However, there are acts or omissions of a person, he adds, the result of which cause one to become an accomplice to another's crime. Not much attention is paid to such a danger, but it is ever-present and threatens not only peace on earth, but also our eternal happiness in heaven.

“The first on the list of the sins of others is to command to sin or to incite to sin. We see that during this war the enemy is issuing many criminal orders. He who issues commands to kill and rape becomes a murderer and a rapist himself. He who sends an army to kill people in another country becomes personally responsible for the evil he has ordered others to do,” the spiritual leader maintains.

The UGCC Department of Information