THE Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, has backed public protests against government attempts to tighten control over anti-corruption organisations, as religious leaders appealed for “global prayers” to commemorate their country’s independence.
“Corruption is a crime against Ukraine — a moral sabotage against our state,” Archbishop Shevchuk said on Monday.
“This decision shook the conscience of Christians and responsible citizens, creating dangerous social tension. . . I thank the young people who took responsibility for Ukraine’s moral revival and were the first to rise up against this threat.”
The statement was issued as President Zelensky withdrew support for legislation to restrict the independence of two anti-corruption agencies in the face of demonstrations and the threats of reduced aid support from the West.
Archbishop Shevchuk said that the proposed legislation had caused “deep public outrage” and risked provoking an “internal confrontation” that would undermine national security and “trust between government and people”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Council of Churches and Religious Organisations (UCCRO) called on religious leaders worldwide to support a “common prayer to the Almighty”, to mark the imminent 34th anniversary at the end of August of the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.
“At this time of particular trial, we need not only political and humanitarian support, but also spiritual solidarity — prayerful support, compassion and fraternal participation,” UCCRO said in a weekend appeal.
Moscow’s summer offensive has continued to encounter fierce front-line resistance, amid fresh Russian air assaults on Odessa, Kharkiv, Sumy and other population centres.
On Monday, the first national Day of Commemoration for Ukraine’s Defenders was marked by overnight glide-bomb attacks, which killed 22 civilians and injured dozens more at a Zaporizhzhia prison and other sites.
In a previous statement, on 8 July, UCCRO warned that increased Russian attacks on civilian targets “far from the front lines” had been emboldened during 2025 “by the silence and inaction of powerful global actors”.
Church and faith leaders across Europe pledged to show more active solidarity with the embattled country in a separate mid-July appeal, while standing together against the “misuse of sacred language” to justify “imperial ambitions”, and urging their governments to “hold aggressors accountable”.
Speaking on Monday, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said that a private meeting last Saturday between the Pope and the Russian Orthodox Church’s foreign relations director, Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk), had helped to “maintain contact”.
He rejected claims, however, by Metropolitan Antony in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica daily, that Leo XIV’s offer to host mediation talks, made during a meeting with President Zelensky on 9 July, could not be accepted because of the Roman Catholic Church’s lack of neutrality.
“While calling a spade a spade, we’ve always tried to remain close to both sides and, above all, to help find a way to resolve the conflict,” Cardinal Parolin told reporters in Rome.
“I understand that it could be a problem for them that two Orthodox countries have ultimately to find common ground in the Catholic reality. . . But I don’t think you can accuse the Vatican of not being neutral.”
In a weekend commentary, Vatican Radio said that a brief new round of talks between Russia and Ukraine last week in Istanbul, which brought an exchange of prisoners and dead servicemen, had been “overshadowed by renewed fighting”, raising concern that ending the war was now “becoming increasingly complex”.