Citizens of Ukraine should understand that the gift of freedom is a great value. We need to grow in this freedom.
Such a conviction was expressed by the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Sviatoslav in an interview with the newspaper “Fakty”.
“I might say a paradoxical phrase, but I have a feeling that the Ukrainian society now is like a prisoner who was released from prison. He needs to integrate into society and find his place there. He has a lot of internal wounds. He seems to be free but still lives in captivity of the stereotypes of relations between people formed in conditions of bondage. He is free but continues to sing prison songs,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
“This also applies to the human soul,” he added, “the path of slavery must be cut off and a person must undergo a process of liberation.”
According to the Head of Church, Ukrainian society during the Revolution of Dignity the post-Soviet Ukraine died and a free state was born. This is a long and difficult process. But I have a feeling that sometimes we begin to become tired of freedom. Some believe that freedom is something that can be traded in return for welfare. However, such thinking is very dangerous, because there is a risk of losing both,” said the Head of the UGCC.
The spiritual leader of Ukrainians expressed his conviction that Ukraine would still be a free, independent state. “We will not return to Egypt. There is no way back. But how long we will go forward depends on us. We should remember our responsibility every time we stand on the threshold of the elections,” emphasized the Head of the UGCC.
In his belief, freedom is a gift and great power. According to His Beatitude Lubomyr (Husar), freedom is an opportunity to do good. A free man is capable of destroying tyranny and building new circumstances. However, freedom is also an opportunity to make mistakes. Even freedom can be abused.
“Therefore, I want us to learn to be responsible. It’s very easy to finger-point at someone: it’s his fault. But when criminals come to power, their critics are also those who gave their vote for them in the elections,” said the Head of the UGCC.
The UGCC Department for Information