KYIV (CNS): Women praying for peace, defending their nation, staying behind to care for loved ones, mourning loss and death, or fleeing to bring their children to safety all symbolise hope for Ukraine, said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
The women of Ukraine are “a symbol of fearlessness, a symbol of victory of life over death, a symbol of the fact that Ukraine will stand even through such inhumane circumstances,” Archbishop Shevchuk said in a video message on March 17.
“When we speak of our homeland, our Ukraine, which is standing, which is fighting, I see before my eyes the image of a woman. A woman as a symbol of Ukraine,” he said in the message subtitled in English.
News images and daily life show women who bear the burden of war, who are building and defending the future, who protect, feed and care for their loved ones, he said.
“When we care for our people who are hiding in bomb shelters, we see first of all women. The woman is today the symbol of the strength and courage of Ukraine,” he said, adding that it is this “female strength that gives Ukraine hope.”
