His Beatitude Sviatoslav: Man was created for life, not death

Wednesday, 23 December 2020, 12:23

Death is the greatest absurdity, because man was not created for death, but for life. This opinion was expressed by Father and Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav in the program “Open Church. Results of the year," answering questions from journalist and TV presenter Saken Aimurzaev.

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"Unfortunately, this year that absurdity is increasingly piling up on all of us," said the Primate. He noted that people rebel against death because they feel that those who could still live are dying.

"We see that people are dying because of the collapse of the medical system in Ukraine, although doctors try to do everything to save the patient. The death of a patient is a defeat for the doctor. This is a wound for his professional dignity,” said the Head of the Church and added, “On the other hand, we see that in these circumstances we meet with the face of death in a new way and try to understand it in a Christian way. The death of a loved one will always cause a colossal wound."

His Beatitude Sviatoslav told how one can help a person suffering from the pain of losing a loved one. "When it comes to accompanying a person who is grieving the loss of a loved one," he says, "you need to have time to grieve with that person. We need to give her the opportunity to experience this emotion, to accept death, and then learn to live on."

"This year we realized the importance of medical chaplaincy, in particular the presence of a priest in health care facilities, to accompany those who face their own death," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

"Christians have good news about death. After all, Christ is risen. We believe in the resurrection and that each of us is called to experience our own death. Death is one of the events of our lives. It is necessary to grow in this faith. When the moment of my death comes, it will be a test of how much I believe that Christ is truly risen,” the Father and Head of the UGCC summed up.

We remind you that on December 16 the program "Open Church" with His Beatitude Sviatoslav was livestreamed for the first time in a new format. In the program, together with the Head of the UGCC, the results of the past year were summed up by well-known Ukrainian journalists: Sonia Koshkina, Inna Kuznetsova, Vitaliy Portnikov and Saken Aimurzaev. Viewers of the program - priests and laity - also joined the broadcast through the zoom.

The UGCC Department for Information