A significant event took place at the Cathedral of Santa María del Real de la Almudena in Madrid: a liturgy presided over by the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav. The event was dedicated to the All-Spanish Pilgrimage of Ukrainians.
According to the Information Department of the UGCC, the liturgy was concelebrated by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Bishop Josafat Moschych, Bishop Stepan Sus, Bishop Andriy Khimyak, and Archbishop José Cobo Cano of Madrid. Over 2,000 Ukrainians from various parts of Spain gathered for the event.
Addressing those present, His Beatitude called this gathering “a historic moment that will go down in the history of the Church.” For the first time in over 80 years of the Ukrainian presence in Spain, the community gathered in this historic cathedral to thank the Lord, Pope Francis, and the Archbishop of Madrid for their support and invitation.
The homily was based on Christ’s words to the Apostle Peter: “Peter, do you love me?” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that the Lord seeks love, not pity or renunciation. “To love Jesus means to lay down one’s life for him,” he noted.
Sviatoslav explained that true pastoral love is the willingness to lay down one’s life for one’s flock. A priest deprived of such love becomes a “religious businessman” who cares only for his own interests.
