Variety, we are told, is the spice of life. As those of us in the Latin rite continue to celebrate Christmas, let’s not forget that in the Eastern rites it won’t be celebrated liturgically until the end of the first week of January. Such pluriformity is the fruit of the inclusion of a number of historic expressions of the faith which now fall within the ambit of the Holy See. It speaks of the richness and colour of the tapestry whose warp and weft makes up the fullness of the life of the Church.
Among our Eastern brethren, this year the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has a particular claim on our attention and our prayers. Russia’s attempts to subdue Ukraine continue to drag on, and if we think our winter has been cold then it is nothing compared to the usual sub-zero temperatures that Eastern Europe is accustomed to – at least when shelter, power, heating and all the other amenities of peacetime are available.
Winter in wartime is something else entirely. Nevertheless, as the Ukrainian Eparch in London, the Rt Revd Kenneth Nowakowski, noted on our website in December, “During the Soviet times, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s faithful who had been forced into a clandestine existence continued to celebrate the Birth of Our Lord as best they could.” It is not called a Church of Martyrs for nothing.
Meanwhile, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk – who as Metropolitan of Kyiv might reasonably have been regarded as an obvious candidate for elevation to the cardinalate back in August – has appealed for international assistance to secure the release of two Redemptorist priests, Fr Ivan Levytskyi and Fr Bohdan Heleta, who were seized by Russian forces from their parish near Mariupol in November. It is believed they have already been the victims of torture.
The two men had chosen to stay in occupied territory to minister to Catholics of both rites; their witness and suffering is as inspiring as it is humbling. As we continue to celebrate Christmas in the West, then, may we not forget the ordeals still being faced by ordinary Ukrainians, day by day as their Advent continues. Let’s also light forests of candles and storm heaven with prayers for the safety and swift release of Fr Levytskyi and Fr Heleta.
Let’s unite ourselves, too, to Pope Francis’s call for Catholics across the world – which he made on Twitter in mid-December – to “renew our closeness to the battered people of Ukraine, persevering in fervent prayer for our brothers and sisters who are suffering so much”. Amen to that, but let’s pray too for an end to Russian aggression and for a lasting peace in Ukraine – and a just one, at that.
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