We pray for all victims of the Holodomor and ask God to take the children of the Ukrainian land into His arms, His Beatitude Sviatoslav

On Friday, November 23, 2018, the Beatitude and the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, spoke about this during a meeting in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The meeting was dedicated to commemorating the Holodomor victims of 1932-1933 in Ukraine.

The meeting was attended by people's deputies of Ukraine, foreign parliamentarians, representatives of central bodies of executive power, organizations of the Ukrainian diaspora and public organizations of Ukraine.

"We remember with pain and sadness the victims of a great tragedy, a crime against humanity, as well as wounds that were inflicted not only on the body of the Ukrainian people, but also on mankind, known as the Holodomor," said the Head of the UGCC at the beginning of his speech. "Today, we want our Lord and Savior to remember all the victims, because He knows the name of everyone that is written on heavenly tablets. However, recalling this tragedy, I would like to mention all those who tried to save the victims of this tragedy," said the Head of the Church.

And then he added: "I would like to mention my great predecessor, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, who, perhaps, the first among church leaders, together with his Galician bishopric, raised his voice in defense of dying Ukrainians."

His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that it was on the initiative of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky that a national rescue committee was set up in Lviv, which was then supported by the Orthodox clergy of Poland, and this committee was then spread throughout Europe and the world, in particular in Canada, in North America. The UGCC bishops were not only the first who dared to speak the truth to the whole world, they began to work actively to save the brothers and sisters from starvation.

The Head of the UGCC said that in all parishes, the communities of the UGCC began to raise funds and food. Money and food came to those who needed them. Now it is unknown how much they managed to raise, but in terms of the Polish zloty it was tens of thousands, and the Ukrainians themselves were not very rich in the post-war period. Therefore, thanks to the work of the Ukrainian community in the whole world, the voice of the dying Ukrainians was heard and other representatives of the Churches and peoples joined us.

"I would like everyone who lives on the fertile Ukrainian land to hear the voice of blood that is calling to heaven today... Today we pray for all the victims of the Holodomor and ask the Lord to accept the children of the Ukrainian land in His arms. However, today, we also want to mention all those who saved those victims, with gratitude. Eternal memory to our brothers and sisters who were killed by artificial famine in Ukraine, and eternal glory and thanks to all those who saved at least one Ukrainian soul. As ancient wisdom says: "Whoever saved at least one person, saved the whole world," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The UGCC Department for Information