Photo Courtesy of Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church

CONYERS—An archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in America brought a message of hope to the Ukrainian community in the Atlanta area as well as an African-American parish in the archdiocese. 

Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia led a prayer rally for peace in Ukraine in Conyers Sunday, May 18. That morning, he spoke at Our Lady of Lourdes, known as the Mother Church of African American Catholics in Atlanta. 

Archbishop Gudziak, the son of Ukrainian immigrants, reminded listeners that Ukraine has survived after more than three years of a major invasion by Russia. He said the nation, which has struggled to defend its territory, will survive. 

Father Volodymyr Petrytsya, pastor of Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church, at right, welcomes Archbishop Borys Gudziak, left, to the Conyers church May 18. The church community serves both Ukrainian immigrants and non-Ukrainian Byzantine Catholics. Photo by Mariangeles Burger

More importantly, he said, Ukraine’s response to the invasion is reminding the world of the importance of standing for the good in the face of evil and for truth in the face of lies. 

The archbishop, who was rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, for many years, and then as a bishop led Ukrainian Catholics in France and other European countries, was named head of the Philadelphia archeparchy in 2019. He serves as chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and has been a leading voice of support for Ukraine since the 2022 full-scale invasion by Russia.  

Earlier this year, Gudziak initiated the St. Gabriel Institute in Washington, D.C., which trains Ukrainian Catholic Church leaders in communication and church diplomacy. About a dozen members of the institute accompanied him to the two events in the archdiocese. 

The day before, the group visited the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, which tells the history of slavery in North America. 

At Our Lady of Lourdes, the archbishop said at the end of Mass that Russia has a long history of colonial expansion and domination of other countries, including Ukraine. Over the past three centuries, whenever Russia has occupied Ukraine, whether it was under the Tsar, the Soviet regime, or the current occupation of Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Catholic Church has been suppressed.  

Speaking to the racially mixed congregation at Lourdes, he noted that most Russians are white, and so are most Ukrainians, “but they wanted us to be their slaves. And Ukrainians said, ‘You know what? Slavery’s over. We’re not going back. We’ve been shown the promised land.’” 

The archbishop and his students visited the grave of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King across the street from Lourdes and sang a traditional Ukrainian “panachyda,” or memorial service.  

Reminding the world of good and evil 

In Conyers that afternoon, Archbishop Gudziak told a gathering of some 200 people that because of the war, Ukraine today is “the epicenter of global change.” 

“So much has happened because of Ukraine’s resilience and resistance,” he said. He characterized Ukraine as a “community of people who have faith, who trust that there is an unalienable truth that every person is created in the image and likeness of God.” In a world of dealmaking and power politics, Ukraine’s tenacious response to the Russian invasion is sending a message that, “‘There’s truth and there are lies. There’s good and there’s evil, and we’re going to name it, and we’re willing to risk our lives (to make clear) the difference.’” 

“That is forcing people around the globe to think, because not too many people are willing to risk their lives for anything,” Gudziak said. “Today Ukrainians are helping people rethink what it means to be human. They’re forcing people to look in the mirror.” 

At a time when President Donald Trump is pushing both Moscow and Kyiv to enter negotiations for peace and many people fear that Ukraine might have to give up some or all of the roughly 20% of the land that Russia occupies, the archbishop urged listeners to advocate for Ukraine and “help as many Americans as we can to be on the right side of history.” He also thanked listeners for prayers, saying that it “makes bullets miss, it saves lives, it heals wounds.” 

Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia visits with the children of Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church in Conyers. Photo by Mariangeles Burger

A call to free Ukrainian children 

The rally, held on the grounds of Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church, was co-organized by the St. Gabriel Institute and Razom for Ukraine, an advocacy organization founded in 2014, when Russia initially invaded Crimea and supported a separatist movement in eastern Ukraine. It included prayers by Catholic and Orthodox priests and Ukrainian Protestant ministers, musical performances and remarks by the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, Andy Hunder.  

A particular focus of the rally was to raise awareness that some 20,000 Ukrainian children who were taken out of their homeland and moved to Russia are still being held. 

Jonathan Chavez, chairman of the Rockdale County Republican Party, who made an unsuccessful bid last fall to unseat incumbent Democratic Congressman David Scott, said that the abduction of the children is part of a campaign by Russia to erase Ukrainian culture and identity.  

“The forced re-education of these little ones — replacing their language, their memory, their faith—is a modern-day Herod seeking to destroy the Christ-child in every Ukrainian soul,” said Chavez, who with his family are members of Mother of God Parish. 

Julian Hayda, of Razom for Ukraine, invited attendees to stand for a photo with a large banner referring to the abduction of 19,546 children and calling for US government pressure to return them. 

“We pray to move hearts—the hearts of people who can do something about it,” Hayda said. “We can all be involved. We can be calling members of Congress; we can be bearing witness and being a voice for the people in Ukraine who are under occupation and do not have a voice.” 

Father Volodymyr Petrytsya, pastor of Mother of God, which serves a community of both Ukrainian immigrants and non-Ukrainian Byzantine Catholics, focused the attention of participants on the spiritual realities of the issue. 

“As a church we believe that prayer is not passive, it is powerful,” said Father Petrytsya. “We gather today not in protest but in hope. True peace begins on our knees, in humility before God.”