CWN - The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church told youth taking part in a pilgrimage that Christians have a duty to defend their nation against military aggression.
“We never fought wars of conquest, and now do not attack other people, but we have a sacred duty to defend our country,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, according to a report from the Religious Information Service of Ukraine. “Sometimes it happens that the wicked invader cannot be stopped other than answering with arms to arms, and this is a tragedy.”
The Christian, he added, “has a right to defend his land. I cannot speak about the right to kill, but a right to protection. And the Church of God will ask for God’s mercy for a man ready to sacrifice his life defending his country, even with radical means, and for the healing of the wound that the murder might inflict to his heart.”
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