Shevchuk tells Canadians about Putin’s plans to decimate UGCC

Shevchuk’s speech in Toronto. Photo: UGCC's website

On February 25, 2025, in Toronto, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Sviatoslav Shevchuk, delivered a speech at the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, where he told Canadians what could stop the Russian president in the war against Ukraine.

"What will make Putin renounce his plans: plans to annihilate my people, my country, my Church?" Shevchuk asked his audience. According to him, the only thing that can stop Putin from destroying the Greek Catholics is "our moral purity, our unity in courage and our joint decisive actions, by the grace of God."

The UGCC leader called on Canadians to support Ukraine, stating that "if there is no Ukraine, there will be no truth, and the world will once again be in the darkness of imperial evil."

Referring to the Appeal of the Permanent Synod of the UGCC on the Third Anniversary of the War, the Head of the UGCC repeated: “Ukrainians will never revert to the colonial subjugation. Ukrainians will never submit to the genocidal policies. Ukrainians will never sacrifice their children.”

Shevchuk also assured those present that Ukrainians "will never give in to their religious freedom." However, he did not specify which religious denominations he was referring to.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Shevchuk urged Ukrainian authorities to fight UOC communities abroad.

Read also