Feb. 24 marks the second anniversary of the Russian invasion into Ukraine.
The two years of brutality have left the country in dire condition and its people destitute or dead.
As Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia recently returned from his latest visit to Ukraine, he wrote of what he witnessed.
“It’s really quite amazing, because there’s so much devastation, there’s so much death, there’s so much displacement, and yet the people are pretty clear in their resolve. … There are principles we have to defend, and we really don’t have any choice, because wherever there is Russian occupation, there is genocide. So, if we don’t defend ourselves, we’ll be killed.
“We know we have to get the job done. We need help to get that job done, but we know nobody is going to send troops to help us in Ukraine.
“We gave up our nuclear arsenal unilaterally in 1994 (under the Budapest Memorandum), receiving security pledges and guarantees from the United States, Great Britain and Russia, who (promised) not only to not invade or demonstrate aggression, but to not even use economic power to shake the sovereignty or independence of Ukraine. … You had the global community applauding the first nuclear disarmament.
“But now Ukraine’s territorial integrity, its sovereignty has been violated brutally. Ukrainians realize they have to defend themselves, and they will do so.”
Archbishop Gudziak had these thoughts on what fellow Catholics can do for Ukraine.
“First of all, we should pray. The Lord is the Lord of history. And I’ve seen too many miracles. Our church was illegal for 45 years. It was decimated. Today, 35 years later, there are 3,000 priests again, and we have the youngest episcopacy and clergy in the world.
“Second, be informed. There’s a lot of disinformation. Ukrainians are very grateful to all who pray, who advocate and who help. There’s a special respect for America.
“(Ukrainians are) going to fight and defend God-given principles, God-given dignity, so that our children and grandchildren don’t have to suffer. We have to stop (Russia’s aggression), no matter what the cost.”
It also came to light this week that one of two missing Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests seized from their church in Berdyansk in November 2022 was alleged to have been illegally transferred to Russia, according to a human rights activist.
Redemptorist Father Ivan Levitsky is likely being held in an investigation prison in Russia’s Rostov region, according to Yevhen Zakharov of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.
Father Levitsky’s fellow Redemptorist Father Bohdan Geleta, who served with him at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Berdyansk, is reported to be held in a separate investigation prison in Russian-occupied Crimea.
As the Knights of Columbus are offering a novena to mark the anniversary, we all must keep Ukrainians, Catholic or otherwise, in our prayers for a swift resolution to the war.