Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Bishop Volodymyr Viytyshyn on the first day of the Eparchial pilgrimage in Canberra
June 6, 2026
On Saturday, June 6, the all-Australian pilgrimage of the faithful of the Melbourne Eparchy began in Canberra with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. The service was led by Bishop Volodymyr Viytyshyn, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk, who is currently on a visit to Australia.
Your Eminence, Cardinal Mykola; Reverend Fathers; Venerable Religious; Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
Today, as we begin this large pilgrimage for Ukrainians in Australia, we come together as one great family of God’s people. Each of us has arrived from different cities, parishes, and families, yet we are united by one faith, one Holy Church, and one love for our Ukrainian people.
Today, in a particular way, we turn our attention to our families and households, for it is within the family that faith is born, nurtured, and sustained. It is in the family that children learn their first prayers, where they first hear about God and His holy Law.
Our Ukrainian people endured the most difficult times of oppression and persecution precisely because they had strong, God-loving families, where parents provided their children not only with earthly bread but also filled their hearts with love for God, Christian virtues, and their native land.
A strong Christian family is the foundation of a healthy and flourishing society. Yet family values often become the target of evil forces that sow division and hatred.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, in our homeland of Ukraine, a tremendous test of endurance has been the brutal Russian war, which, in addition to claiming thousands of lives among parents and children, has also brought about countless forced separations and emigration.
Through the words of today’s Holy Gospel, the Lord points to another internal enemy of family life: hypocrisy.
Christ teaches, “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” (Mt 7:3). We can very easily notice the faults of others: a husband sees the shortcomings of his wife, a wife those of her husband, parents those of their children, and children those of their parents. Yet even today, the Lord calls us not to judgment but to mutual forgiveness.
Therefore, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, a strong Christian family does not begin when all its members have become perfect. Rather, it begins when each person makes the decision to work on themselves, when they are ready to forgive, to give time and attention to one another, to pray together, to attend and participate in the services of the Church, and together build the domestic Church.
Hypocrisy often reveals itself when we demand of others what we ourselves are unwilling to do. If we do not give our children a good example through our own lives, then any methods of upbringing will appear insincere and will never bear good fruit.
Christ teaches, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). Perhaps someone here today is praying for their children; perhaps someone is praying for their husband or wife; perhaps someone is carrying the pain of separation or the loss of a loved one.
Our Savior generously blesses those families who turn to Him, especially when parents pray together with their children, united as one family.
Today, the family needs support — spiritual, moral, and material. Yet at this very time, the Ukrainian family proclaims to the whole world that love is stronger than hatred, that life is stronger than death, and that national unity and solidarity can accomplish extraordinary things and withstand even the greatest challenges.
Therefore, we ask all Ukrainians to be apostles and witnesses of the Ukrainian family — defending its right to life, its right to be itself, and its right to preserve and cherish its holy faith, language, and culture.
May this holy pilgrimage become for all of us an opportunity to know one another more deeply, and may our common prayer become a call to reconciliation within our families, a return to prayer together, and a renewed trust in Almighty God.
We raise our prayers to the Holy Family of Nazareth—Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—and to all the saints of our people, asking them to guide every Ukrainian family in Ukraine, Australia, and throughout the world towards holiness, unity, and love so that our people may be sanctified and strengthened in God and come to know and fulfill their divine vocation.
Amen.
