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Shevchuk: Forgiveness and reconciliation can heal the historical memory of Europe’s peoples
In Kyiv, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher met with the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who spoke to Vatican Media about the joy of welcoming the Pope’s special envoy, as well as Cardinal Zuppi during his recent visit: “To pray together with the Holy Father’s special envoys is to pray with the universal Church. For us, they are a visible sign of the Church embracing us.”
By Roberto Paglialonga – Kyiv
“It is precisely in the midst of war that we rediscover the strength of prayer.” Today, more than ever, there is a need for “forgiveness, both given and received, to heal the historical memory of Europe’s peoples.”
These were the words of the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, speaking to Vatican Media after meeting Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, who is on the second day of his mission to Ukraine, together with the Apostolic Nuncio to the country, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas.
Archbishop Gallagher, Pope Leo XIV’s special envoy for the celebrations marking the 35th anniversary of the reopening of the structures of the Latin Rite Catholic Church in Ukraine, which will take place on Sunday at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Berdychiv, arrived in Kyiv on Friday evening after stopping at the Church of St John Paul II in Rivne, midway between Lviv and the capital.
Your Beatitude, how important is it at this moment to pray together and to feel the Holy Father’s closeness through his representatives here—Archbishop Gallagher, who has come for the celebrations at Berdychiv, and Cardinal Zuppi, who visited just a few days ago?
In times of war, we rediscover the meaning and the power of prayer. To pray together is to find a space where wounds can begin to heal. Prayer is a balm, the healing grace of the Holy Spirit that reaches into the heart of a suffering person.
Praying together also means sharing gifts. Jesus Himself said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” But praying together with the Holy Father’s special envoys means praying within the heart of the universal Church; it means praying with the Holy Father himself. It means feeling embraced by a father.
That is why the presence of Cardinal Zuppi and Archbishop Gallagher is, for us, a visible sign of the universal Catholic Church embracing us and praying for us.
In the context of the war in Ukraine, how are the different Catholic communities working together to support the suffering population?
In Ukraine, we face the same tragedies and the same pastoral and humanitarian challenges—not only among Catholics, but also together with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, Protestants, Jews and Muslims, who are all part of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Working together quite literally means saving lives. At times, Christian charity truly transcends confessional and ritual boundaries. As Catholics of the Byzantine Rite and the Latin Rite—as St John Paul II used to say—we are able to bear witness together to the authenticity of Catholic love: a love that embraces, heals, saves and serves everyone.
What are the greatest needs of the population at a time when the bombing and the war are intensifying?
The needs are immense. According to figures from the United Nations, around five million people in Ukraine are currently facing a humanitarian emergency, while the resources available through international organisations are sufficient to assist only two million of them.
But, as the mayor of Kyiv once told me, what people need from the Church, even more than clothing, bread and food, is a word of hope.
This time of immense suffering for millions of Ukrainians is also a time of new evangelisation. It is a kairos, a moment of profound conversion. It is a hunger and thirst for God. Only the Church of Christ can heal these wounds and respond to that hunger by offering the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, and the Word of God to those who hunger and thirst for Him.
During your meeting with Archbishop Gallagher, you discussed reconciliation and forgiveness. How can Christians become bearers and promoters of these two great gifts in such a difficult international situation?
These months in Ukraine mark the 25th anniversary of the historic visit of St John Paul II. As an integral part of his Petrine ministry for Europe, he saw himself as being at the service of reconciliation among the peoples of the continent.
He himself said that it was his duty to help heal the historical memory of Europe’s peoples, especially when it came to the wounds of the Second World War, which remain so deep in our hearts even today. To those old wounds have now been added the wounds of this blasphemous war that we are living through in Ukraine.
But what medicine did Pope Wojtyła leave us? He told us that the balm capable of healing historical memory is forgiveness—both given and received.
We are all sinners. We all know that we have offended our neighbour. Neighbouring peoples often carry painful memories of one another because of the past. But we must not become prisoners of that past.
We cannot rewrite history. But through forgiveness, we can build a better future.
That is why the gift of forgiveness—both offered and received—is the medicine that heals the historical memory of Europe’s peoples.
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