The Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, shared an emotional testimony at a conference hosted by the Pontifical Oriental Institute. There he revealed that, since the beginning of the war, his name has been on an assassination hit list.
SVIATOSLAV SHEVCHUK
Major Archbishop Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
We have discovered that during the first days of the war, all of us, especially religious leaders, were on a list of people to be eliminated. We found out that in the Kiev Cathedral parish community there were spies who turned out to be part of an assault group.
According to Archbishop Shevchuk's information, several soldiers had orders to attack the cathedral and had infiltrated the choir and youth group. They blended in with civilians, who on the first day of the war, took refuge in the basements of the Church. The archbishop says he never imagined that the cathedral would become a bomb shelter.
SVIATOSLAV SHEVCHUK
Major Archbishop Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
I remember that on the first night of the war, we sheltered almost 500 people under our cathedral, in the crypt. It's interesting that this raiding party wanted to come into the underground shelter to shoot people.
He also described the fighting around the cathedral, calling the first days of the invasion apocalyptic. At several points he burst into tears, especially when recalling the stories of priests trapped on the front lines.
SVIATOSLAV SHEVCHUK
Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
When they kill a priest, we won't see him anymore. And this unfortunately happens, there's so much innocent blood.
Archbishop Shevchuk became especially well known during the war for his five-minute video messages, which, for many Ukrainians, was their main source of information in the early days of the war.
RM
TR: KG
