A few days ago I read the words of one of the relatives of the Heavenly Hundred. This wife of the deceased dear person said that Ukraine might become the first state to be destroyed by the TV. I would not like to think so categorically, but today these dangers exist. This was stated by the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Sviatoslav during a speech at the Kyiv Security Forum.
The Head of the UGCC recalled that this year Ukraine celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Unity of the Ukrainian people. Last year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the restoration of Ukrainian statehood.
“Our parents, grandfathers with bitterness, felt the value of the loss, when, because of those circumstances, Ukraine was again enslaved. Today, we must be wise enough to appreciate not what we have lost, but what we have today. And this for us all should be the starting capital,” stressed the Head of the UGCC.
Expressing his position on the construction of the state, His Beatitude Sviatoslav paid attention to the values that today are truly a security issue for Ukraine, for the whole Europe and even for the world.
According to the Head of the Church, the European aspirations of the Ukrainian people have not changed.
What is the role of Churches and religious organizations today in the matter of values and security of our state? “We are really experiencing today a variety of technologies that try to divide us. The lines of conflict today are more delicate and sophisticated. We see that those lines can go between those who are watching the TV and who do not watch it,” said the spiritual leader.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that informational war is an integral part of the hybrid war, and it tries to fragment our society into so-called target groups. “Indeed,” he said, “we can go to the same church, read information from social networks, not from the TV, and be completely different in our assessment of the current circumstances of the society. So someone is attempting to divide us, and then to oppose to each other.”
What is the role of the Church or religious institutions in such circumstances? First of all, according to the Head of Church, our duty is to create core values, which are always the main foundation of the organization of any social institution. Around these core values will later be grouped those in politics, business, those who are older and younger. If there is no this common foundation, then we are in danger.
The Head of the Church called the four principles, which until recently have been regarded a success for any society, and today, in his opinion, they are a security issue.
“And these four principles are nothing more than European values,” stressed the Primate.
The first, said His Beatitude Sviatoslav, is the dignity of the human person. The dignity of the human person is the foundation of European civilization.
The second is the common good. If there is no common good, then everything is fragmented. There is no state then.
The third is solidarity. Ukraine would not have survived in the past five years if people were not solidified in defending their state and in helping the victims of this war.
The fourth is subsidiarity. That is, everyone is doing his job in his own place, according to what he can, in order to achieve the common goal.
Reference: The Kyiv Security Forum was launched by Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Foundation “Open Ukraine” in 2007. The Forum is an annual event, a high-level discussion on topical issues of national security, the Black Sea region, security issues in Europe and global security in the world. The importance of the religious aspect in the issue of security was considered during this event for the first time.
Department of Information of the UGCC