‘Wounded but resilient’: Winnipeg parishioners get hopeful message from Ukrainian church leader

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This article was published 02/03/2025 (214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church brought a message of hope and resilience to Winnipeg on Sunday amid concern and anger over Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s clash in the White House.

About 1,200 parishioners packed into the Cathedral of Saints Volodymyr and Olha for Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk’s hierarchal divine liturgy and personal blessings in a monumental moment for Manitoba’s Ukrainian community.

“Ukraine is standing, fighting and praying. People of Ukraine are tired, are wounded, but resilient and unbroken,” Shevchuk said. “I came to you not to complain, but to bring witness to hope.”

People pulled out their mobile phones to take pictures and record video while the patriarch spoke mainly in Ukrainian. The service and blessings lasted more than three hours.

Increased security was noticeable inside the North End church at McGregor Street and Stella Avenue. Multiple Winnipeg police officers stood near the front doors while parishioners entered.

Shevchuk added a three-day visit to Winnipeg to his itinerary after travelling to Toronto and the U.S. amid a war that started when Ukraine was invaded by neighbouring Russia in February 2022.

The major archbishop of Kyiv–Galicia, who last visited Winnipeg in 2012, has called for a “just peace” in Ukraine during his North American tour.

His visit came two days after U.S. President Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House. Trump and Vance accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful and not showing gratitude for American support during the war.

Trump accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War Three.”

The leaders were expected to sign a deal that would give the U.S. access to reserves of critical minerals in Ukraine, bringing some hope that it would be the start of a peace process involving the Trump administration. The signing was abandoned after the blowup.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European leaders rallied around Zelenskyy in the aftermath. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted 18 leaders at a summit in London, England on Sunday to discuss a plan for peace.

Members of Winnipeg’s Ukrainian community expressed shock, sadness and anger over the way Trump and Vance spoke to Zelenskyy on Friday.

“I was angry, enraged, but also not helpless because of all the support that we see around the world and from other countries, including Canada, for Ukraine,” said Ivanna Arman-Lutsyshyn, who moved to Winnipeg from Boryslav, a city in Ukraine’s Lviv region 12 years ago.

Some of her relatives are in the Ukrainian military, including an uncle who has been on the front line of the war. She expressed gratitude to Canada for its support of Ukraine.

“We can’t fight this war without our Canadian friends or without our allies all over the world,” Arman-Lutsyshyn said.

Some of her co-workers and neighbours offered words of support to her after the presidents clashed in a moment that was televised globally.

“People are very friendly and very nice, and that helps through some of the worst times that are happening right now,” said Arman-Lutsyshyn, while hundreds or parishioners waited to get blessed by Shevchuk.

Her in-laws attend the Kyiv cathedral where the patriarch is based.

“(His liturgy) meant a lot to me personally about how to find our own peace with what’s happening in the world, and how to make sense of all the things that are happening day-to-day in my home country,” said Arman-Lutsyshyn, who became emotional.

Maria Stetsky moved to Winnipeg from Ukraine two years ago to be closer to some of her adult children, who’ve lived in Winnipeg or northwestern Ontario for years. Two of her sons are priests.

It was her first time seeing Shevchuk in person.

“I am not on Earth. I am in heaven,” she said after the patriarch blessed her.

She prayed for family, friends and fellow Ukrainians in her homeland.

“The war is hurting all of us,” Stetsky said. “I pray for every Ukrainian. I pray for peace for Ukraine.”

Regarding Friday’s heated exchange in the White House, she took a deep breath before giving her opinion on that moment and her hopes for Ukraine’s future.

“If Americans stop help to Ukraine, I don’t know what it will be. Ukraine needs support, including America’s support,” she said. “I hope American citizens think about this.”

Like Arman-Lutsyshyn, Stetsky said co-workers and other people have expressed support for Ukraine during conversations with her.

“I am thankful for all Canadian citizens,” she said. “I feel so much support from people.”

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca