Poor Ukraine. Martyred Ukraine. So much destruction.
Genocide by forced starvation in the 1930s. Ongoing attempted genocide in the 2020s. So much suffering, but also amazing courage, and heroic perseverance of Ukrainians in defending themselves.
They also defend the peoples behind them — the European nations that struggle to preserve the remnants of a civil society with the rule of law (even as that society crumbles through the loss of its soul). For the past three years, the “democracies” have given Ukraine that which the democracies value most: money. Some have also been further moved and inspired, and have given various forms of constructive human support. Some realize that the invasion that afflicts Ukraine today may well pour over them tomorrow. They fear anything that smacks of appeasement. Others still have pricks of conscience over their specific promise (as signatories of the December 1994 Budapest Memorandum) to guarantee Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders in exchange for Ukraine’s voluntary nuclear disarmament. Thus, Ukraine has felt some measure of “international support” since the beginning of Russia’s full scale invasion. But with the sudden turn of events in 2025, Ukraine finds itself tossed into an even more obscure limbo.
Peace is being “talked about.” But who are the true friends of Ukraine?
I don’t trust current Czar and former KGB agent Vladimir Putin. That goes without saying. He is a war criminal. His rogue regime ought not to be “legitimized” by his being invited to participate in what seem to be “negotiations” to end the war in Ukraine — negotiations that don’t even include Ukrainian participation. Putin’s only role in securing a just peace is to cease his barbarous aggression against Ukraine and evacuate all the Ukrainian territory he illegally occupies.
Who can be trusted to orchestrate and/or participate in “talks” that might bring about peace and security for Ukraine?
I certainly don’t trust the new oligarchs who have recently taken over the United States, but I didn’t trust the previous U.S. oligarchy either. Still, the new oligarchs — whether through rashness, ineptitude, or greed — appear ready to sit at table with Putin and carve up Ukraine for dinner. I hope that I’m wrong about this. I continue to pray for miracles of grace, but I don’t trust these men to follow their own whims. Nor do I trust the current feckless European leadership. It does not appear that any of the agents of the corrupt West are prepared to risk their own investments in the status quo in order to secure the geopolitical space necessary for the emergence of Ukraine as a free nation that seeks more profound bonds for its own internal unity — or, to put it more precisely, communion.
Whom can I trust to help me see what’s really going on in Ukraine?
I trust the man pictured above. He places his trust in God and in the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ. He experiences this conflict in its true context, and he knows that Ukrainian unity and solidarity in these recent years has brought closer together all those who seek God with sincerity of heart, and — more particularly — it has brought about an unprecedented fraternal collaboration of Ukrainian Byzantine Catholics and Ukrainian Orthodox Christians. Focused on the plight of their people, Catholics and Orthodox have drawn closer than they have been since the thousand-year-old breach between Western and Eastern Christians. Multitudes all over the world have participated in this closeness through the spiritual solidarity of their hearts and whatever gestures of assistance they can give. Common suffering, common prayer, and common charity are beginning a process of healing that is vital to the heart of the Church as a witness to Christ’s presence in the world.
Let us join them in their prayer for a just peace for Ukraine. And let us not lose hope for the resilience of this experience of unity, which can outlast the machinations of earthly powers — whether they be the ambitions and pretenses of a Muscovite Would-Be Emperor or the “deal-making” arrogance of a “(false) Prosperity-Gospel” Americanist Plutocrat and his minions (although it’s not clear whether or not the minions are the ones who are really in control right now).
Here are some words from the man I trust, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Primate of the Ukrainian “Greek” (i.e. Byzantine) Catholic Church in full communion with Rome and the Successor of St Peter. He spoke in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at an Ecumenical gathering of Ukrainian Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Ukrainian Orthodox bishops, who met to pray for peace in Ukraine on February 16.
"We stand because millions of people around the world — like you — pray [for] and support us. They believe that for God there is good and truth, and evil, lies, and death will never have the last word. We are alive because we are not alone! Thank you for being with us!
"We want peace. Every Ukrainian longs for peace, for nights without air raids, mornings without explosions, days without deaths and nights without fear. But a ceasefire is not peace, but a political agreement that cannot bring justice. A ceasefire that leaves people suffering under occupation is rather a cruel mockery. Without justice, peace is impossible — it is an illusion and an empty promise."
