ROME — Ukrainian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk urged all nations to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine, insisting “silence can kill.”
“When we are silent about sin, it only increases. When we are silent about sin, we agree with it,” Archbishop Shevchuk said in a video message Sunday. “When we are silent, we encourage the sinner to continue committing his own crimes.”
“All those who are silent today and do not have the courage to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine, who do not have the courage even to express their position, they are participating in this crime,” the archbishop warned.
In his message Shevchuk appealed to intellectual, diplomatic, political, and economic leaders, urging them to clearly “condemn the Russian war and aggression against the Ukrainian people.”
“Let us not remain silent when we see untruth, injustice, and sin,” he said. “Because your silence encourages, supports him, helps him.”
Ukrainian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk asked journalists Wednesday to expose the extent of the evil being perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine. https://t.co/GPmUFfZZbS
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 31, 2022
“Today, Ukrainians are calling upon the conscience of contemporary humanity, the world community, the international Church community, and we ask everyone for solidarity, for prayer, and for support for Ukraine, and we ask: Do not be silent about sin!” he pleaded.
Along with this appeal, the archbishop gave an update on the state of the war in Ukraine.
“The whole east of Ukraine is on fire,” he said, and “battles of great intensity continue in the Luhansk region.”
Russia is concentrating heavy forces in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions, he said, and “the enemy continues to use aircraft, bombing our cities and villages.”
“People are dying. Human blood is flowing. There is a sea of tears,” Shevchuk said. “But thanks to the great faith in the Lord God, Ukrainians are regaining their strength.”
“O God, bring back the scattered and dispersed children of Ukraine! O God, bless Ukraine with peace!” he prayed.
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