Thread by @Favillez

1) A busload of new statements by the primate of the UGCC just posted to the blog.
actualidadereligiosa.blogspot.com/2022/02/war-in…
Excerpts follow

2) In his video address on 15/12 he said: "God, help us all to understand that in order to defend the freedom of our Motherland, we ourselves must be free people."
And labelled #Bakhmut the Stalingrad of the III Millenium

3) During a pastoral visit to East Ukraine
"Everyone who experienced shelling, heard the sound of Russian explosions, forever received a certain wound in his soul, which will always make itself known. And what can we say about our women who lost their husbands and children in the

4) war?! Can someone heal these wounds? It is humanly impossible. But it is on these wounds that the Lord God wants to pour healing balm with the power and action of the Holy Spirit."

5) During a sermon, on 19/12
"Lord, come to us! In the midst of the horrors of war, we cry to You: where are You? Come and untie the knots that the Russian invader is tying over us. Speak that word to us so that we stand up and straighten up. Give us the strength to win"

6) From a daily video address
"Victory can be seen in the eyes of soldiers, wounded and released from Russian captivity, in the eyes of the elders in the destroyed villages, where they live without light, without heat in the midst of the Ukrainian winter.

7) Victory looks at us through the eyes of war victims who say: 'The Ukrainian people are already winning, the enemy has already lost'."
And next day:
"One gets the feeling that the war steals childhood from children, and youth from young people."

8) From a daily video address
"#Kherson is turning into a city of indomitability and courage, where the enemy continues to sow death, and Ukrainians affirm life every day, repairing broken infrastructure networks, bringing joy where the enemy wants to make us cry"

9) He had these interesting words which he said during a latin rite mass on Gregorian Christmas
"Only that warrior can defeat the enemy who knows how to kneel before God. He is given the power of good and light, which drives away the darkness of sin and death."

10) During a sermon on Christmas day (Gregorian), he urged all to celebrate, despite the war.
"Celebrating Christmas during war is not easy. Many people ask whether it is possible to celebrate anything at all now, whether it is possible to rejoice when the whole nation is crying

11) But today God's word announces the good news: it is not man who prepares Christmas, but God, the Heavenly Father! Don't be afraid to accept the invitation! Don't be afraid to rejoice! Celebrate not only as called, but also as chosen!"

12) And the same day, in a Christmas message, he thanked those who are celebrating Christmas in solidarity with Ukraine. "Throughout the world, many Christians are consuming less electricity in order to be in solidarity with us who are suffering from a lack of electricity.

13) Nowadays, the whole world wants to share its Christmas joy with us. Therefore, we thank everyone who celebrates Christmas today, thinking about Ukraine".
He had similar words for Pope Francis in his Christmas message to him, recalling his tears over Ukraine on 8/12.

14) "Because of such concrete gestures of Christian love, we feel that God is with us, we feel that we are not forgotten and not abandoned in our trouble, that the Lord God is coming to be born today in Ukraine."

15) In the same message he said: "The enemy who came to our land wants to deprive us of everything: life, the Motherland, even the Church. But he will not be able to steal Christmas from Ukrainians!"

16) On 17/12:
"The Russians have set themselves the goal of reaching the administrative borders of Donetsk region by the end of the year. But we see that the Lord God destroys the wicked plans of those who consider themselves powerful in this world.
(...)
In the midst of war,

17) hatred, murder, maiming, grief and tears, we Christians are called to share our faith in God's love for us, because this is the only way we can defeat evil. This is the only way we can avoid becoming like an aggressor who in his rage tries to destroy all living things."

18) On 29 he had a long message about the need to support the armed forces.
"We must be grateful to the AFU that we are alive, that we can move forward, that our state is standing and fighting. We see that there is not a single family in Ukraine in which someone did not fight.

19) Therefore, the Ukrainian army is truly national. Therefore, on the one hand, we must thank them for being alive, and on the other hand, we must live to support them. Indeed, we can say that today all of Ukraine is either at the front or for the front."

20) In condolences message on death of #BenedictXVI he recalled the Pope's words of solidarity with Ukraine, by letter and in person. "Now in his person our people have a deputy before the throne of the Most High."

21) In a new year's message he spoke of the miracle that Ukrainians are still alive "Because someone said that there will be no more New Year for Ukraine and its people (...) every day of our lives is a small victory over a deadly enemy."

22) And in his sermon from 1/1 he said that 2023 will be the year of victory for Ukraine.
"We are experiencing the Sunday before Christmas in the context of war. Today is the first day of the new year. We feel that even the war is the story of the salvation of Ukraine, which the

23) Lord God writes because of the hope that He sends to His people. We understand that the culmination will be in 2023: for us, Ukrainians, it will be nothing more than victory over the unjust aggressor. The Lord seems to fuel this hope of ours. We are now more confident in our

24) ability to win than a year ago and even before the war. It's hard to scare us."

It is indeed!
Relevant statements in full on the blog (see link in 1st Tweet)

God bless you all, and a Happy New Year!

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