Ukrainian Catholics in Vancouver feel the pain of their embattled loved ones half a world away  

For Ukrainian Catholics in Vancouver the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made their place as members of the Body of Christ tangibly real as they suffer in solidarity with friends and family in Ukraine. 

In an interview with The B.C. Catholic, Father Mykhailo Ozorovych, the pastor at Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in New Westminster, estimated about 90 per cent of his parishioners have family living in Ukraine. He is among that 90 per cent and said his own family is safe for the moment.

Whereas media coverage can tend to obscure the reality of war, Father Ozorovych brings home the reality of the conflict in a way that watching the news does not.

“It’s full invasion and war,” Father Ozorovych said.  “Everything you have associated with these words is happening. Thousands have died, civilians have died. Everything you have seen in any war movie has happened in Ukraine.”

To be a Ukrainian in Canada right now means “pain and anxiety and fear and uncertainty,” the local effects of a conflict half a world away. 

Amid the anguish being suffered by local Ukrainians, Father Ozorovych believes Christians have a role to be in solidarity with those suffering in Ukraine.

“To stand in solidarity with people, to pray for peace … for the safety of people and soldiers” is the role of the Church, said Father Ozorovych. Being with  people means “if people are suffering, we are suffering.”

Despite the geographical distance, he sees his priesthood as having much in common with chaplains in Ukraine who are serving among the suffering. “There are already some causalities amongst the chaplains,” he said.

To explain the reality he and his parishioners are living, Father Ozorovych offered a quotation from St. John Climacus: “they do not stand with their feet together, for one is stretched out in service and the other is immovable in prayer.”

In a recent CBC interview, Father Ozorovych told how his father, a retired Ukrainian policeman, registered for the draft as rockets fell in his hometown.

His father is not alone and Father Ozorovych believes the resolve of Ukrainians to resist and fight is only growing.

“No one (in Ukraine) has reached out to me to flee to Canada,” he told the CBC. 

“The courage and resolve of the people of Ukraine to fight is more than the first day, and it grows every day,” he told The B.C. Catholic.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Vancouver refugee office said the office has been watching for refugee requests from parishes or individual Ukrainians, but so far none have been received. She pointed out the federal government is introducing new immigration streams for Ukrainians.

Members of Holy Eucharist Cathedral have just sent off parishioner Oleh Hlyniailiuk with 10 suitcases of supplies for Ukraine, where he is ready to fight if necessary. He goes in spite of his mother’s pleading that he stay safely in Canada.

In an interview with The Vancouver Sun, Hlyniailiuk said, “once I make it to Ukraine, if they need me to join the military I will. I would rather die than see Ukraine lose its democracy.”

“We continue to support him with prayers,” said Father Ozorovych, who hopes .
 Canadians will keep some perspective when it comes to the hardships they might have to endure because of the war.

“It is a little bit painful to hear people complaining about gas prices,” he said. “If you believe in everything you have here in Canada, remember that is has costs.” 

Father Ozorovych hopes Lower Mainland Catholics will recognize their connection to those suffering in Ukraine.

“Pray, stand with us, sacrifice and fast – everything the Holy Father asked us to do,” he said, referring to Pope Francis’ declaration that Ash Wednesday should be a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Ukraine.

Father Ozorovych said, “It is one day for the Catholic world, but for us it is every day. The amount you give does not matter. Solidarity matters.”