The eparch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in England has said that Vladimir Putin never had any interest in peaceful relations with Ukraine, and urged prayers for Ukrainian victory “in order to save Russia from itself”.
Speaking to The Tablet, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski of the Eparchy of the Holy Family in London said that his church would continue its prayers for peace.
“As the global community continues to watch a completely predictable and preventable atrocity unfold on their television screens and smartphones, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church continues to do what it has always done—guide and support their faithful in the light of the Gospel. We continue to hope and pray for peace,” he said.
He added, however, that the world’s powers needed to do more.
“If eight years of war have not provided enough evidence,” he said, “Russia’s outright invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt, that President Vladimir Putin never had any interest in peaceful relations with his southernly neighbour. And so, we must pray for Ukraine’s victory and Putin’s defeat, ironically, in order to save Russia from itself.”
“These days we experience pride in the heroic efforts and determination of Ukraine’s armed forces, sadness and outrage with the loss of life of both men and women in uniform, and the targeted civilian population, and profound embarrassment with the failure of the world community to provide effective support to Ukraine in a war taking place in the heart of Europe. At the same time the presence of the Holy Spirit instils in us the inner peace of confessors and martyrs in the face of sacrifice,” he concluded.
He referred to the reminder of the Orthodox bishop of Kharkiv, in Ukraine, that “we must always remain Christian”, and continue “discerning one’s place and one’s calling in the endless struggle between good and evil”.
On Thursday, the head of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine still loyal to the Moscow patriarchate condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine as “a disaster”.
In a statement issued to members of his church, Metropolitan Onufriy of Kiev appealed directly to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, asking him “immediately to stop the fratricidal war“, calling the conflict “a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy”.
“The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper Baptismal font,” he said.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia also issued a statement referring to “a common centuries-old history dating back to the Baptism of Rus’ by Prince St Vladimir”. “I believe that this God-given affinity will help to overcome the divisions and disagreements that have arisen that have led to the current conflict,” he said.
He called on all parties to avoid civilian casualties, and to provide assistance to refugees.
“I call on the entire fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church to offer a special, fervent prayer for the speedy restoration of peace,” he said, and concluded with a prayer for “the Russian, Ukrainian, and other peoples who are spiritually united by our Church”.
These statements showed unusual unity with the Orthodox Ukrainians who do not answer to Moscow. In 2018 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church split from the Moscow Patriarchate to which it had belonged for more than three hundred years.
Patriarchs outside of Moscow had become increasingly suspicious of the Russian Orthodox Church, which they see as subservient to Kremlin policy; this led to the Patriarch of Constantinople granting autocephaly, or independent jurisdiction, to the Ukrainian Church. Relations between the Moscow patriarchate and other Orthodox churches have severely deteriorated in recent years.
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