On September 10, 2023, the head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, together with the bishops of the UGCC Synod, led a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, which was timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of Josaphat, the UGCC website reports.

In his sermon, Shevchuk appealed to Ukrainians for unity in the Catholic Church.

“Today Josaphat says to us: Children of Ukraine, never listen to the voices of those who tell you to renounce that unity. Because our Church has survived in all historical epochs, survived against those who wanted to liquidate it, thanks to the fact that it was in unity with the great universal family of the Catholic Church, just as today Ukraine cannot survive that war without international help and support at all levels. Ecumenical Catholic Christian solidarity is a necessary condition for sustainability, survival of our Church and people, a condition for the victory of Ukraine in that struggle of good against evil, which is now being waged by our people,” emphasized the head of the UGCC.

“In Ukraine, no one died of cold, hunger or other humanitarian reasons where the power of Catholic love and universal solidarity, the heart and promoter of which is and will be His Holiness Father Francis, reached,” Shevchuk said and thanked Pope Francis and the international community.

“We should have been gone in Kiev as early as last year. But thanks to the heroism of our guys, military men, girls and boys, we live and have no right to live for ourselves, at our own pleasure. As Franco said: “It is time for us to live for Ukraine!”. This is what our human and Christian conscience calls us to”, – Sviatoslav Shevchuk summarized.