A CHRISTIAN leader in Ukraine, Dr Slavik Pyzh, has described the dramatic about-turn in support from the United States as leaving Ukrainians “in the same state as they were in the first days — anxiety, fear, and deep worry”.
The President of the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in Lviv, Dr Pyzh, who also runs 18 humanitarian-aid centres in the country, told the Church Times: “It’s as if the war has broken out again. . . Nothing makes sense any more. Those who were our friends are now calling us enemies, while those who were our enemies are becoming friends with our allies. The world feels upside down.
“Beyond the immediate concern about the war’s outcome, my deepest worry is not about the amount of land we reclaim, but about the spirit of our nation. From the very beginning, Putin’s goal was to break our spirit, and, tragically, with the help of former allies, he is finding success in doing just that. A nation that loses land is one thing; a nation that loses its spirit is something entirely different.”
The explosive televised meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky last Friday, in which Vice-President J. D. Vance demanded more gratitude for the US military support donated so far, was met with horror in Ukraine. The subsequent announcement of a pause in all US military aid to the country on Tuesday morning sparked widespread fear, although European leaders were quick to respond with their own offers of support.
European institutions, including Churches, have rallied to support Ukraine.
In a statement on Wednesday morning, the Archbishop of York assured “the people and churches of Ukraine of the ongoing prayers and solidarity of the Church of England. At this time of great political uncertainty and change, we stand with them in their call for a just and lasting peace that provides for the sovereignty, security and freedom of Ukraine and its people.”
The Church should be a peacemaker, even in times of war, he said. “We understand that peace is not the mere absence of war, but the presence of justice and the conditions for human flourishing.”
A just peace needed “to address the reasons leading to war rather than sowing the seeds of the next conflict. It must be negotiated with all relevant countries. For a peace to be lasting it needs to be cultivated and maintained, with the ongoing commitment of all parties.”
He continued: “The churches of Ukraine have a vital role to play in working for justice and peace, even as they continue to suffer under the full-scale Russian invasion, and they remain in our prayers each day. Meanwhile churches in the UK and across Europe continue to provide support and hospitality to thousands of Ukrainian refugees.” He asked for prayers for the diocese in Europe.
“We also continue to pray for world leaders as they try to bring this war in Ukraine to an end and negotiate a pathway to peace.”
AlamyPeople remember their loved ones with flags and candles at Independence Square, Maidan Nezalezhnosti, in Kyiv, on Tuesday. Ukrainian flags for fallen soldiers and civilian victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are seen
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union also released a statement, which said: “Ukraine’s struggle for peace and the defence of its territorial integrity is not only a fight for its own future. Its outcome will also be decisive for the fate of the entire European continent and of a free and democratic world.
“A comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine can only be achieved through negotiations, which should be backed by strong transatlantic and global solidarity and must involve Ukraine.”
The President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Most Revd Timothy Broglio, who is the Archbishop for Military Services in the US, published a Lent reflection “in solidarity with the martyred people of Ukraine”, calling on the US to work “with perseverance for a just peace and an end to aggression”.
The Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, travelled to the North America to give a talk on spiritual resistance to the war as his President was at the White House.
The Archbishop warned: “If Russia succeeds in occupying Ukraine, our Church will be liquidated again. And that is already happening in the occupied territories. In the past three centuries, each time Russia has occupied lands inhabited by Eastern Catholics, they have been forced to convert to Russian Orthodoxy, were driven into exile, or sent to perish in a gulag.
“We have survived each attempt of annihilation, and we live to witness the truth of the gospel. And I am here today as a survivor. In Ukraine . . . we learn that freedom is never [to be taken] for granted, and right now we are paying the highest price for freedom. But there is no other choice in the face of evil.
“We must continue to speak this truth, defend the sanctity of human life and the honour of our name, of our very identity. We know that great risk is involved, but we maintain our resolve. Trusting in the Lord’s promise: you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Episcopalians in the US have also come out in support of Ukraine and in condemnation of the change in approach by the new administration.
Washington National Cathedral was lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, and the Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rt Revd John H. Taylor — a former chief of staff to President Nixon — warned on Facebook: “If the American people acquiesce in Trump’s disgraceful behavior, his abandonment of the weakest among us, our country will end up as exactly what its harshest critics have always said: out just for itself and its economic interests, or, in this case, Trump’s. The Trump doctrine will go on to light up a hundred wars.”
On Tuesday night, President Zelensky said that he regretted the clash with President Trump, and said that he was ready to come to the negotiating table and sign a minerals deal granting the US rights to some of the valuable minerals buried under Ukrainian soil. He said that he was willing to work “constructively” under President Trump’s “strong leadership”
President Trump acknowledged the offer in his address to Congress later on Tuesday. In a marked softening of tone towards President Zelensky, he told the Joint Session of Congress that he “appreciated” receiving an “important letter” from the Ukrainian President. He quoted from the letter, but also said that he had “received strong signals they are ready for peace” from Russia.
“Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” he said. “It’s time to stop this madness. It’s time to halt the killing. It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides.”
Priest sent to labour camp. News of a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, the Revd Kostiantyn Maksimov, 41, who has been sent 600 miles from his parish in the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Region to a labour camp to serve 14 years on charges of espionage emerged this week. He lost an appeal against his conviction, the religious-freedom advocacy group Forum 18 reported. Many priests, it said, had “disappeared” after refusing to join the Moscow Patriarchate Russian Orthodox Church since the outbreak of war, three years ago.
