UOC of the USA.<\/a><\/p>\nIn the address of the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of Ukraine\u2019s Independence, concern was expressed about the difficult situation in the country.<\/p>\n
The superiors of the UOC of the USA called on believers to pray for peace in Ukraine, as well as for understanding between the parties, opening of hearts, and the possibility of rebuilding the country. They expressed their support for the Ukrainian military and the country\u2019s people.<\/p>\n
The enormous aid provided to Ukrainian refugees by many countries around the world, as well as the efforts of the Ukrainian diaspora and Church in providing humanitarian aid to the victims, were also noted.<\/p>\n
The superiors urged to continue to pray for peace and unity in Ukraine in these difficult times of the celebration of the anniversary of Independence.<\/p>\n
Below is the full text of the address:<\/p>\n
As we celebrate the 32nd anniversary of Ukrainian Independence, we find ourselves in perhaps the most critical moments of all Ukrainian history.\u00a0 We witness yet another genocidal invasion of the nation by the armed forces of the Russian Federation whose main target are the innocent civilians \u2013 mostly senior citizens and their grandchildren \u2013 sleeping in their beds at night.\u00a0 We hear the oft repeated by Russian dictators, allegation that there is no such nation \u201cUkraine\u201d and no such people \u201cUkrainians\u201d, followed by the promise of the present dictator at the beginning of his invasion, that \u201cwhen we are finished, there will be not a single person left anywhere who will self-identify as a Ukrainian.\u00a0 Finally, we hear the promise made by the prime hierarch of the government\u2019s \u201cchurch\u201d, promising in a Holy Day sermon that any soldier who dies fighting in the invasion of Ukraine murdering self-identified Ukrainians will earn forgiveness of all their sins, equating them to the holy martyrs. Shortly thereafter, he began deposing his own clergy who pray for peace rather than for victory over Ukrainians as he ordered them to do.<\/p>\n
We witness millions of men, women and children fleeing from their homes and the invaders to nations all round the world.\u00a0 We witness nations, some of which have been known as \u201ctraditional\u201d enemies of Ukraine opening wide their borders, their hearts, their minds and souls in welcoming and supporting Ukrainian refugees on a scale seldom seen throughout world history.\u00a0 We witness the millions of our fellow citizens here in the United States of America and South America who have worked diligently to collect the funds necessary to support those remaining in all regions of Ukraine \u2013 millions contributed to our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA because of their trust in our ability to maintain transparency in the distribution of aid to all who desperately need it.<\/p>\n
We witness the world\u2019s greatest nations supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the defense of their nation, astounding the world with their success and professionalism.\u00a0 We witness the profound oneness of mind throughout all the \u201cnation\u201d \u2013 the people \u2013 of Ukraine.\u00a0 These are people of God who have, throughout all their lives, remained faithful to God trusting that His \u201cWill be done on earth as it is in Heaven\u201d. We witness men of all ages serving in Armed Forces defending the nation with their every bit of energy and certainty in their righteousness.\u00a0 We witness a man who portrayed an \u201caccidental\u201d president on television elected as the \u201creal\u201d President of Ukraine, becoming an inspiration for not only his nation, but for nations all around the world, uniting his people into one mind about who they are and what they will always be.<\/p>\n
Yes, we are at a critical moment of Ukrainian history because that President and his government face what can become overwhelming pressure to negotiate and end to the conflict not of their own making by making sacrifices of land and people.\u00a0 We are at a critical moment because that President and his government my well face additional pressure to deal with critical issues existent at all levels of society that may do more to undermine Ukraine\u2019s future than any unjustifiable invasion.<\/p>\n
We are not politicians and have no desire to be politicians.\u00a0 We, along with you, dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, are people of God whose responsibility is to pray for all the people of God throughout Ukraine.\u00a0 We have worked closely with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in our Christian aide programs and we call upon the Church, her clergy and her people to once again become the active conscience of the nation of Ukraine.\u00a0 We call upon the Church of Ukraine to put forth at all times the necessity of standing in humility before God in the Holy Trinity seeking strength to follow the Guidance of the Holy Spirit in the way we relate to one another and the Grace to profess our love for one another under all circumstances.\u00a0 We call upon all people of faith around the world to live in that same Grace and in compassion and mercy for all through our \u201coneness\u201d in the image of God.<\/p>\n
Pray, dear brothers and sisters in our Lord, pray more fervently than ever before in your daily life. Pray for peace, pray for understanding, pray for open hearts, minds and souls that will be able to rebuild Ukraine so that like the proverbial Phoenix, she will \u201crise up from the ashes\u201d to fulfill her destiny among the forever free nations of the world. Pray for the leadership of the nation and the Church that they may always be one with the people they serve.<\/p>\n
We extend our deep gratitude to all who have stepped up in our parishes and as individuals to help in aiding the people of Ukraine.\u00a0 Your unconditional love has worked miracles!\u00a0 Yes, we are at a critical moment as we celebrate this 32nd<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of Ukrainian Independence \u2013 and celebrate we do because we have learned so much about the citizens of Ukraine, but also because of how much we have been blessed and enabled in our assistance to them.\u00a0 May the Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.\u00a0 Remember your faith as part of your daily prayers:\u00a0 \u201cThe Father is my Hope, the Son is my Refuge, the Spirit is my Protection.\u201d\u00a0 Pray this and believe.<\/p>\nIn our Lord\u2019s All-Encompassing Love,\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n+Antony,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Metropolitan of the UOC of the USA and Diaspora<\/em><\/p>\n+Jeremiah,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Archbishop of the South American Eparchy<\/em><\/p>\n+Daniel,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Archbishop of the UOC of the USA and Western Europe<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UOC of the USA urges everyone to pray for peace in Ukraine during the difficult hours of the 32nd anniversary of Independence. This is stated on the website of the UOC of the USA. In the address of the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":170970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"telegram_tosend":false,"telegram_tosend_message":"","telegram_tosend_target":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5148,5142],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-171038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-church-en","8":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/df.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/display_image.jpg?fit=1600%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171040,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171038\/revisions\/171040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}