In an interview with the Romanian public TV station, Cardinal Sandri, the Vatican’s Prefect for Oriental Churches, has praised he Ukrainian Greek-Catholic clergy for “working for progress and freedom of a sovereign country in Europe”.

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri has asked the other countries in the region to respect the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishops and priests.

The Vatican senior official recalled the “dark period of sufferings and persecutions” of Catholics in Ukraine. “We cannot imagine another situation as before”, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri said.

On August 21th, 2014, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, called upon all Catholic Episcopal Conferences and the world’s religious and political leaders not to remain silent and inactive to “the tragedy that Ukraine is experiencing today, due to military aggression”.

“Ukraine needs the effective support of the global Christian community and support of all people of good will. In a media context rife with propaganda we ask you to evaluate information critically. We need your prayer, your discernment, your good words and effective deeds”, his Beatitude Sviatoslav stated in an open letter.