An Appeal of Bishop Mykola Bychok to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference

AN APPEAL
of Bishop Mykola Bychok, Ukrainian Catholic Church,
to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference

Your Excellency,

Dear Brother Bishops,

I thank you for the opportunity to speak about the war in Ukraine. Today, the 11^th of November 2024, we have reached the 990^th day of the war. For more than two years and eight months, russia has been committing genocide against the Ukrainian nation, as it did during the Holodomor of 1932–33. With one difference: the first genocide was due to famine, and today it is due to crimes against humanity, because unpunished evil is repeated.

This year marks the 30^th anniversary since Ukraine, which had the third largest nuclear arsenal after the United States and Russia, became the first country to unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons. Ukraine signed the “Budapest Memorandum” on security guarantees in connection with the accession of Ukraine to the “Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons” (known as NPT) on the 5^th of December 1994. There were three other countries United States, Great Britain and Russia which signed this document. These states became the guarantors of Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity. Today, see that international agreements do not work, because one of the guarantors, Russia, does not fulfill its obligations. This poses a threat to the established order in the whole world. As a result, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014. This year marks 10 years from the beginning of the war.

Russia is not at war with just the army but with the people of Ukraine. Constantly shelling cities, towns and villages to cause as many casualties as possible among the civilian population. With such actions, the occupier shows his true face to the entire civilized world.

Today, the enemy uses a tactic in warfare called “famine and cold”. Since the beginning of the war, the Russians have been massively exporting grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine. It is worth noting that according to the 2020 world grain rating, Ukraine ranked 1^st in sunflower production, 2^nd in barley supply, 4^th in corn and 5^th in wheat. Ukraine is a very important guarantor of food security in the world on the international grain market.

Russia also uses “cold” as a means of war. Now winter has come in Ukraine a lot of resources are needed to heat hospitals, schools and houses. However, Russia is purposefully carrying out massive attacks on power plants, by which they destroyed almost the 90 % of electricity plants. They could not kill Ukrainians by weapons, they are killing our people by “freezing” this winter.

Another very important aspect in this war, is how russia is using the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Kiril gave his blessing at the beginning of war, consecrating an icon and presenting it to a general of the Russian Army. Looking at current events, we can say that first there was a “spiritual occupation” of Ukraine, and now there is a military occupation of our Motherland.

The consequences of this war cannot be fully calculated, but they are horrific: hundreds of thousands killed, tens of thousands wounded, broken families, one million people forcibly deported to Russia, psychological trauma, social and economic losses. It will take decades to rebuild. It is also worth noting that the losses of the Russian army in this war are immense. In just two and a half months of war, they have lost more soldiers than in the years of war in Afghanistan and Syria combined.

I am grateful to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference for your sincere prayers for a just peace in Ukraine. I extend my thanks to the New Zealand Government for the sheltering of Ukrainians Refugees and for the support that they have provide to our country.

Dear brother bishops! Today, Ukraine needs the help of the whole world to resist Russia’s military aggression. I call on the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference to visit Ukraine with a fraternal visit. Similar visits have already been made by many delegations of episcopal conferences from different countries of the world, including the visit of Australian Conference of Catholic Bishops on the 8^th–11^th of August 2023.

I ask you to continue praying and fasting for peace in Ukraine in your dioceses. I encourage good deeds of mercy that will help us heal the wounds of war.

May God bless New Zealand and Ukraine!