Hundreds pray for peace in Ukraine at Pittsburgh interfaith service

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood for an interfaith prayer for peace in Ukraine as the Russian invasion wore into its second week.

Co-hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and dozens of religious and relief organizations, the service opened with remarks from Bishop David Zubik, who welcomed the hundreds of worshipers and supporters to the ornate St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.

“The doors of this cathedral are wide open to welcome you all here,” he said.

Zubik, just weeks removed from shoulder surgery, called for prayers of peace for the people of Ukraine and of consolation for friends and family in the Pittsburgh community.

“Today we come together as a people who … pray for world peace in the face of madness that seeks to annihilate a nation,” he said.

The most emotional words at the service came from the Rev. Ihor Hohosha, of the St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Hoshosha, who was born and raised in Ukraine, briefly read from prepared remarks and then asked worshippers to allow him to speak “from out of my heart.”

“I beg you to pray as never before from the bottom of your heart,” he said. “Because I can’t pray as I prayed before. I am bleeding and I am crying with my beloved motherland, Ukraine. What I see now is total madness.”

His words came the same day as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians attempting to flee were forced to shelter from what officials said were rounds of Russian shelling in cities in the center, north and south of the country.

Hohosha said he speaks with his family in Ukraine – including his mother and brother – every day. Here in Pittsburgh, he said, he cannot sleep until he knows the sun has risen in his home country, which is seven hours ahead of the East Coast.

“Sunrise in Ukraine means Ukraine made it one more day, one more day, and I’m happy,” he said. “And I continue to believe and look forward.”

Dozens of religious leaders representing all types of faiths and denominations filled the front pews of the historic church, and several joined Zubik on the altar. The service included prayers and psalms, hymns and intercessions.

Vicki DePasse, of Bethel Park, said she came to Oakland for the service because she felt compelled to do something.

“There’s nothing else I can do at this point,” she said of the prayers for Ukraine. “This is a thing that I know how to do.”

Joan Bolander, of Whitehall, came with her.

“We wanted to be with like-minded people,” she said, noting that she and DePasse are Lutheran. “We wanted to just gather together to pray and be a support.”

Hohosha thanked the hundreds who turned out. He said his brother in Ukraine, who has volunteered to fight, told him give those at the service thanks for their prayers. Hohosha also spoke directly to the local Ukrainian community.

“I would like to embrace all of you and say I feel your pain,” he said. “Together we will make it.”