The Cross : Since your arrival in France, you have had numerous meetings with political leaders – President Emmanuel Macron, the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, etc. – and religious leaders, notably bishops. What message do you intend to send to them?
Mgr Sviatoslav Chevtchouk: Faced with the immense tragedy that Ukraine is going through, I came to thank the French authorities who, from the start, took a clear diplomatic position in favor of our country. France was able to offer a warm welcome to the Ukrainians, whose number has almost doubled since the start of the war (to reach nearly 100,000 people, Editor’s note). When I saw him, President Macron asked me very concrete questions: “Why are Ukrainians fighting? What is the secret of their resilience? » On behalf of Ukrainian youth, I responded that there are values without which life is meaningless: Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, to avoid going backwards towards a restored Soviet Union…
We also feel great solidarity from French Catholics. Thanks to international aid, we were able to achieve an important humanitarian victory: after nearly 1,000 days of war, no one has died of cold or hunger, even though Russia is destroying energy infrastructure. . Today, I would like the world to remember this: Ukraine is tired, but not defeated. Ukraine is wounded, but resilient.
What role has the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church played since the start of the Russian invasion, and what voice does it want to make heard in the conflict?
S. S. : Our parishes have been – since 2014, the year marking the start of the conflict in Crimea – spaces of healing and salvation. I would like to quote here the words of an old lady, at the time forced to flee her home in Donbass to take refuge in Kropyvnytskyi (center): “When I arrived in this big, unknown city, the first thing I had to do was find a church. » As if it was, for her, the first place in which to feel safe.
Today, our communities provide many services to all those in need: food, support for displaced people, etc. We have set up special logistics to transport products from Western Ukraine and Europe. In the first month of Russian aggression, when the city of kyiv was practically surrounded, the city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, told me: “More than bread and clothing provided by the Church, we need a word of hope. » I then understood how the Church was not only a humanitarian organization but truly the body of the resurrected Christ, able to bear witness to continual hope.
How does your Church manage to continue practicing its faith, under bombardment?
S. S. : The priority is first to manage to stay alive. As the Latin phrase says First to live, then to philosophize (“First we must live, then philosophize”). This is why we equip each of our parishes with secure shelters. Very often, our celebrations are interrupted by air alerts: we then run to take refuge there. Our greatest pastoral challenge then relates to healing wounds and supporting grief. These traumas are growing, in the heart of our wounded nation. Only the Church has the most effective remedy: the balm of the Holy Spirit. Doctors treat the body; psychologists, the mind; but the Church can offer the soul something more, which will make all the other care received even more fruitful.
Does she also manage to maintain a link with the Ukrainian faithful in the occupied territories?
S. S. : In the occupied areas, our Church is completely banned and in the process of being destroyed. One day, Greek Catholic faithful wanted to come and pray at Donetsk Cathedral. They found the door closed, sealed by Russian troops – just as the tomb of Christ was itself sealed. But we remain confident that Christ will break these seals and reopen the doors of our churches. On the question of the link, our priests living outside these territories manage to maintain communication with the faithful from within to give them spiritual advice – and in particular that of continuing to hold domestic celebrations, in secret, like during the Soviet era.
How do you view the intra-Orthodox struggles in Ukraine today?
S. S. : All Ukrainian citizens want to defend their country, regardless of their religious affiliation. I remember a moment when we stood in front of the corpses in Boutcha. We then understood that when the Russian bullets fall, they do not ask the victims for their confession… It is certain that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church historically attached to Moscow (EOU-MP) is going through a major identity crisis.
We live in a time where Russia uses religion as a weapon, going so far as to promise those who kill Ukrainians that they will be forgiven for their sins… Imagine how a Ukrainian might feel when hearing this promise. In August, the Ukrainian Parliament approved a bill giving EOU-MP parishes nine months to cut ties with Russia. This must be seen as a measure of defense of the country.
You were born in 1970 in the Lviv region, when the Greek Catholic Church was banned by the Soviets. How has this past within an “underground Church” shaped your faith and your relationship with politics?
S. S. : Yes, it was my grandmother who secretly passed on the faith to me. From my childhood, the Church represented a community for me. Not a structure or a building, but a people united in the name of God. I remember how this small, persecuted community emerged from the shadows just before the fall of the Soviet Union. We have lived the experience of the resurrection of Christ… In totalitarian countries, there is no civil society. Everything is controlled by the state. But in these conditions, we were almost the only ones to be free… And from free people, nothing can be taken. We can only kill them. This is why, in this tragic moment in our history, these free people are, for me, capable of remaining free, even while looking death in the eyes every day. This, for me, is the secret of Ukrainian resilience.
Since the first week of the conflict, you have broadcast video messages to the world: what do they allow you to express?
S. S. : At first I started it to let people know that I was still alive. This showed that the Church remained with its suffering people in kyiv and continued to pray with them. Then I realized that these videos also had a healing power… I try, through them, to discern through the word of God what it means to be a Christian in such conditions. Today, millions of people follow these messages. Over the past twenty-four hours, for example, I have denounced the crimes against humanity of the Russian aggressors, but also offered reflection on how to overcome these atrocities with Christian spiritual and moral teachings. My message is above all spiritual, and not political. It aims to encourage people not to give up, to refuse to deal with these evil forces that seek to destroy us.
The Ukrainian file remains closely scrutinized in Rome. How do you perceive the role of Vatican diplomacy?
S. S. : We are grateful to Pope Francis for his neutrality on the issue. Certainly, Ukrainians find it scandalous that the Vatican does not adopt a clearer position… Many ask: “How can we remain neutral in the face of the death of innocent people? » To explain this, we must make a distinction between, on the one hand, diplomatic neutrality and, on the other hand, moral neutrality. Rome maintains diplomatic neutrality, and it is this that allows the Holy Father to save lives. Each time I visit him, I send him lists of names of prisoners, wounded… so that he can help them. But from a moral point of view, the Vatican is on Ukraine's side.
Finally, how do you envisage the spiritual reconstruction of the country?
S. S. : There is a lot of hatred today in Ukraine, and we cannot let it occupy our hearts. It was the Chinese philosopher Confucius who said: “Do not hate your enemy, for if you do, you are in a sense his slave. » We are confident that the ability to love one's homeland can be stronger than hatred. Certainly, I cannot forbid my people from feeling this when they witness murders… But, through the virtue of our spirit and our will, we must convert this feeling into courage. This is where hope still exists in Ukraine. We will have to succeed in overcoming mutual dehumanization, as Europe was able to do after the Second World War.
