OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — During times of turmoil faith often serves as a beacon for people in need of hope.
At the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, the pews were filled with people praying for the country of Ukraine on Sunday.
"We don't have a mass. We have a liturgy which is Liturhiya, work of the people, coming together with prayers before God as one body of Christ," said David Woloszyn, who is studying to be a Deacon.
Woloszyn and churchgoers are filling the space with prayers for a world that needs it.
"We pray for the sick and suffering, those held captive. We pray for anybody and everybody, especially in these times of war," Woloszyn said.
Ukraine is a country of rich religious diversity and is the birthplace of Slavic Christianity. Creighton University Professor of Theology Nicolae Roddy believes Church leaders need to hold politicians accountable.
"It is an uncanonical situation to have a canonically orthodox country attacking another orthodox country. But even with all the diversity in Ukraine with Jews and Muslims and Protestants and Latin Rite Catholics and Eastern Rite Catholics and Autocephalous Orthodox and Orthodox under the patriarchy of Moscow, all of this diversity together, is huddled in bomb shelters and subways, or fleeing the carnage that Putin has wrought," Roddy said.
Woloszyn is asking all to forget about divisiveness and remember what we hold dear as human beings.
"We're all brothers and sisters, no matter if you're from Belarus, you're from Africa, you're from China — we have the same heavenly father and it needs to stop," Woloszyn said.
"For the Ukrainians — I know as a Romanian — I know, we'll cling to the faith of our grandmothers; the one who kept the faith, not the ones who led us into war," Roddy said.
The church liturgy concluded with the singing of the Ukrainian national anthem.
SEE MORE: Creighton political scientist says pro-Russian government in Ukraine likely outcome of invasion
RELATED: Ukraine invasion is personal for those in Omaha area with close ties to the country
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