Borys Gudziak, metropolitan archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, which includes the D.C. region, is sounding the alarm over Russia’s attack on the Catholic community in Ukraine.
“Over the last 250 years, every time there’s been a Russian occupation where the Ukrainian Catholic Church is ministered, the Ukrainian Catholic Church has been strangled and rendered illegal,” said Gudziak.
Gudziak, speaking at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Northeast D.C., said that the Russian military has already fired on churches in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Church services in besieged cities, he added, have had to go underground.
He also thanked the American people and lawmakers for their prayers and solidarity with Ukraine, and he called on the U.S. to welcome refugees as millions more Ukrainians are expected to flee the war in the coming weeks and months.
“It’s clear these millions of refugees will need hospitality, and it would be wonderful if America, which is built on immigrants … if we can prepare to welcome these homeless, beleaguered people,” he said.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. would welcome Ukrainian refugees, but the Biden administration says that for now, many refugees prefer to stay in Europe.
Gudziak also urged American leaders to assist Ukraine by establishing a no-fly zone, something U.S. officials worry would lead to a direct confrontation with Russia.
Following his remarks to the media, Gudziak said he would be holding a memorial service at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine to remember the soldiers and innocent civilians killed during Russia’s ongoing invasion, including a graduate student of the Ukrainian Catholic University who was killed while defending the country.