Father Stepan Sus: We don’t bless war but the defense of our homeland

2015/3/29 13:32:10

“War is always evil. There may be no just war. We do not have a Ministry for killing enemies in Ukraine; there is the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The time that we are experiencing today is the time when we are called to defend their country, people, adults and children, our parents, friends and neighbors from aggression and evil.”

 


From RISU:

 

Ten years ago the military chaplaincy center was opened at the Lviv Archeparchy of the UGCC. Very few people understood then why military chaplains and the garrison church were necessary in Lviv. Now, having a decade of experience with the military, they know the army “from inside,” so they can better assist the military servicemen in war.

 

Father Stepan Sus is an experienced military chaplain. He is Chairman of the said Center for Military Chaplains and Rector of the garrison Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Lviv.

 

Father Stepan was ready to set off to the east to military servicemen several times. But every time he had to stay. Chaplains are needed in the rear, too. In Lviv, Father Stepan provides material and spiritual aid to wounded soldiers, prays that those who go to war may return safe and sound, and serves the wedding and… funeral services for military servicemen. Father Stepan discusses with the RISU reporter what the hardest thing in the military chaplain’s work is, how to bury people who became dear to you, what presents challenges to chaplains and what should be done by people in the rear.

 

On the decision to become a military chaplain

 

While studying in Lviv Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit, somewhere in the third year (2001-02), I had the opportunity to replace the seminarian who then visited Lviv Institute of Ground Forces. He went to the meetings and talks with cadets, and having fallen ill, he asked me to go instead of him. The military were for me the people basically far from the church.

 

I could not understand how one could talk about religion, God and prayer with these courageous and strong people in uniform. From outside they seemed to have no sentimentality. After the first meeting and communication with them, I saw that they were very interesting people. They were the kind of nation in the state. They were united by courage and willingness to defend our country, friendship and mutual responsibility.

 

Seeing such positive interesting things, I realized that the army lacked a priest. Most military servicemen often repeated that they were interested in communicating with us, because something different appears in their everyday life. Something different is a spiritual conversation, prayer and pilgrimage tours.

 

On the challenges for chaplains

 

There are different people in the army. There are those who believe in God, there are those who do not believe and never went to church, or those who lost faith for various reasons. They react differently to chaplains. When we have interviews with soldiers, those dissatisfied are immediately obvious. They are a minority. One should seek special approach to such people, try to understand them. When there is a misunderstanding or rejection, it is important to build a dialogue. One should not focus on what divides us, but rather on what can unite us.

 

Over the past year the ministry became very difficult. We have to experience it. We feel that the responsibilities and tasks may grow by 300 percent. There is a need for spiritual and material support to military servicemen and their families, support for the wounded and needy and a lot of other things that military chaplains have to do now.

 

You should always remember the chaplains’ slogan – stand right beside. The priest cannot always say, “I understand you.” One cannot understand a soldier who lost a leg or arm or health or became a cripple. One cannot always understand the children who lost their father or a wife who lost her husband or parents who lost their son. Therefore, we must be close to these people and perhaps give them hope. War is a time of darkness. It’s time when it is not easy, there are many question, a time of depression that affects every person. And despite all this negativity, we have to see something positive. Chaplain is a priest that even on the battlefield should inspire hope.

 

On the need to be able to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice

 

A day of military chaplain’s ministry illustrates human life from birth to death. We need to learn to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. It is important to not confuse these feelings. It is hard. Is not easy. Sometimes at a wedding you perform marriage service for an officer and on the same day you serve a funeral service for another officer – you may want to cry.   It’s beyond belief. It is difficult to understand how a young girl who is only 22 becomes a widow and holds an order of her husband. Now there are a lot of things that are difficult to perceive and live through, when you try to understand them in a human way. But we are all believers. We try to experience it all through the eyes of the believer. Realizing that our life is full of dark and light stories, we must survive them in a right way. We need to trust in the Lord. Those who died are in eternity. We have yet to come there. They are encouraging us to live with dignity, not wasting a single day, make efforts to restore peace in Ukraine, eradicating from our life all hatred and evil.

 

Over the past year there were various events. Sometimes we blessed guys and then they were brought from the ATO area as heroes. I had to bury them. Or we bought body armor and helmets for the military, and they died in the ATO area during shelling. There were different situations, very painful, complicated. I remember we went for a pizza with the military, or could simply run into one another in Lviv, make common picture, and now some of these guys died, they are today with God. These are the painful moments for every man, pastor, military chaplain to live through. This reality is difficult to accept, but we should survive through it. We pray for the boys, we entrust them to God’s care, knowing that God knows best what is good for man.

 

About the most fearful moments of ministry

 

The worst thing is that I had to bury so many familiar officers, military personnel over the past few months. I cannot put it in my mind. Even to date I cannot understand that they are not alive. It seems to me they are alive, they are simply somewhere in another area or country. When I’m thinking about this, it is terrible that I had to bury so many good, responsible officers.

 

Sometimes I was nervous that were there were funerals over and over again. How long can it last? On the other hand I realize that what I have to do is a lot easier, than to stay in the trenches and to think what will happen here in the east.

 

About calls from the battlefield and stories from the frontline

 

No one called me from captivity. Often I got calls from the battlefield and was asked for a prayer or just texted. Mostly I got calls when someone was captured, I was asked to pray for this man, or someone got injured, or someone was encircled and asked to pray at this time. Our military are religious. Each of the military has either prayer or an icon or a cross or rosary about him. What you won’t see in the Russian army or separatists when they get captured.

 

I remember the story of how in the ATO area the stocks of ammunition set on fire. It was a great danger to the soldiers who were nearby, because ammunition began to blast. One of the officers said he then started praying. A great cloud came from nowhere and the rain began and put out all fire. It prevented them from ammunition blasts and they were not seen by separatists. This officer said that if he really understood then there is God in the world.

 

There is another story about a soldier who also believed in God. During the shelling, when it was very scary and when many friends died, he promised that if he remained alive he would come to his home and stand a God’s service in the church on his knees in gratitude to God for having survived. He survived, came home and fulfilled what he had promised to the Lord.

 

On desire to go to the east and the need to be in the rear

 

I wanted to set off to the east several times, but I was asked to stay in rear. Not being able to go, I had no sense of reality. I do not see how it really is, and in a distance we get our own vision. On the other hand, I work in the rear, there is also some work to do. Here we accompany the boys in the ATO area, meet them, help with prosthetic treatment and everything else. If God gave me the opportunity to assist with prosthetics, rehabilitation, I have to do it. We need to raise money to buy things, arrange delivery. If I’m in the ATO area, it will stop at least for some time, because there is no constant communication and other nuances. So I was recommended to stay here. Although I really wanted to go. I was ready to go twice. And I did not ...

 

On Christianity and war

 

War is always evil. There may be no just war. We do not have a Ministry for killing enemies in Ukraine; there is the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The time that we are experiencing today is the time when we are called to defend their country, people, adults and children, our parents, friends and neighbors from aggression and evil. And the aggression may be expressed differently. We face the aggression, which the enemy expresses with weapons when firing in our direction. There is the aggression when one sows hatred and evil through information, wanting to infect humans that they were unhappy, sad, unhappy, depressed. When a person feels that uncertain, he is unable to fight back.

 

When we pray for our military, we ask blessings for them not that they killed; we pray for them to defend the country and killed nobody. We don’t bless them for murder; we pray that God keep them from enemy bullets. It is not natural for man to kill another person. But there are circumstances where there is no choice when if you don’t kill that person, he will kill you and tens of your friends. Therefore, there is aggression that can be stopped only by force of arms. And sometimes weapon is used in order to restore peace.

 

Challenges to the community

 

Challenges await us ahead. Now we just promptly respond to the difficulties that arise during the war. And there are lots of those who respond to the difficulties, but I think the time will come and everything will be different. Therefore we must be ready for anything. One of the challenges is the awareness of what happened with the military servicemen. Now they are young soldiers and officers who lost a leg, arm. They will perceive life differently. We have to make sure that no one is left aside. They must feel that they are loved in this society. Everyone should know that there is a place where they are awaited, where they and understood, where someone will listen to them.

 

The war does not end after the ceasefire, it continues in the hearts of people. It is hatred, evil wished, and all that which remains in a person with gunpowder. And it takes time to rethink all this and help these people understand everything.

 

Things to do in the rear

 

It is important not to panic in the rear. Do not evoke aggression in the rear; do not start a strife, misunderstanding, criticism in the rear. We all are going through a difficult time, we all face difficulties challenges. But the rear must be safe and secure. There can be no feast and celebration when the guys are killed on the front line. In the rear a constant fast should be observed - a vigil over oneself and one’s needs that may ever occur. One has just to be able to respond. The rear has to be reliable. Reliable means always be ready for any action and never relax.

 

Life is always going on. This does not mean that we now have to be all upset, depressed, and self-contained, always in fear of something. But at the same time we must be aware, even rejoice, even celebrate, even if we are worried, we must be aware that we rejoice, celebrate at a time when there is war. Even when we go to sleep in a warm bed, we should remember that someone lies in a cold trench, in a sleeping bag at the moment so that we could sleep peacefully here quietly.

 

###

 

*The article above appears through courtesy of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine. Access RISU at http://risu.org.ua/en/index

 

Printer Friendly Page Send this Story to a Friend Create a PDF from the article