“Today all of humanity has been placed in danger — that the powerful have a right to impose themselves on whomever they wish, with no regard for the rule of law.”
His comments came a day before Pope Francis announced a global day of prayer and fasting for Ukraine to be held on March 2, Ash Wednesday. The pope announced the initiative at his general audience on Feb. 23.
The 51-year-old major archbishop has led the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the largest of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, since 2011.
There are more than four million Ukrainian Greek Catholics worldwide, most of whom are based in Ukraine, a predominantly Orthodox Christian country with a population of 44 million people. Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014, focused on the east of Ukraine. The conflict has claimed more than 14,000 lives and driven 1.3 million people from their homes, according to Caritas Internationalis, a Vatican-based confederation of Catholic charities.
The warring parties agreed to a cease-fire in July 2020. But recently Russia has sent at least 150,000 troops to the Ukrainian border.
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