Head of the UGCC: 20 years ago words said by John Paul II that true freedom costs and requires more than slavery – thrilled me to the core

Monday, 28 June 2021, 23:54

Addressing to Ukrainian youth the Pope used a unique phrase, which is, in my opinion, spiritual fathers and theologians should ruminate on. He was speaking about the freedom of love. Because only those who knows how to love is able to be entirely free. His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in his homily on the square before the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Lviv, Sykhiv) where twenty years ago pope John Paul II was meeting with the faithful.

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On this very spot, mentioned His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Pope laid down a special guideline for Ukrainian youth. He called it a compass, in order not to get lost in the modern world.

“This compass in rough sea of the contemporary world is nothing else but Ten Commandments. This is a school of life, a road to sheer happiness and also the road to real love. Because only the one who has learnt how to love will manage to comprehend the sense of Ten Commandments”, added the Head of the Church.

Speaking about love conveyed by John Paul II, His Beatitude added that the one who knows how to love can be entirely free. “This love will be the driving force which can overcome any constraints. It will be that type of compass which will help to tell the truth from the lie. That freedom which we all strive for needs to have an exact direction, otherwise it is empty. That is why the real freedom is demanding, thus it requires mature comprehension”.

“Another phrase which deeply impressed me twenty years ago was: “real freedom costs and demands more than slavery”. That is why the one who loves, who is ready to be a witness to how much God loves us and will not betray that love which God nourishes to us is capable of pure, liberating all-embracing freedom, which enables a person to become happy”.

To love similarly to God; it is a key to comprehending any kind of holiness, - added the spiritual leader of Ukrainians.

The UGCC Department for Information