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Communicators in Ukraine are “bearing witness to truth, resilience, compassion”

July 22, 2026 · 1 min read

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Wed, 07/22/2026 - 16:37

Marianne Ejdersten, director of communication for the World Council of Churches (WCC), traveled with a WCC-led delegation to Ukraine for a solidarity visit on 14-17 July. She took time to reflect on the communications operation, on the prophetic voices that touched her heart, and what we can pray for the communicators that remain in Ukraine.

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From left: Rev. Frank-Dieter Fischbach, Conference of European Churches general secretary; and Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of communication; Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary; and Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the WCC central committee.

Photo: Deacon Andrii Sydor/Orthodox Church of Ukraine

As you headed up a communications operation from Ukraine, what were the biggest logistical challenges?

Ejdersten: Traveling in war zones is always a major challenge, depending on the location, language barriers, and culture. That’s my experience after more than 25 years of experience with field visits, this time an ecumenical…

Source: World Council of Churches · Read the full story →

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Κατερίνα Παπαδοπούλου

Communicators living in Ukraine have a very difficult task. The article says they traveled July 14-17 with a WCC delegation, but it doesn't write at all about the parishes and priests trying to keep church life alive in the midst of it all. I pray for strength, especially those left behind.

Даниела Христова

I agree with Katya that it is hard for the communicators, but there are really no words for the priests and parishioners who gather people every Sunday in the basements or in the dilapidated churches. Only the delegates from July 14-17 are mentioned, and the daily church work remains in the background. How do they manage to organize baptisms and funerals under these conditions?

Sophia Campbell

The article mentions the delegation's visit from 14-17 July but skips right over the priests and parishioners keeping services going in basements or bombed-out churches every Sunday. The communicators have it tough, no question, but I'd love to hear more about the local Orthodox folks actually holding things together week after week.

Daniel Wilson

The local priests and parishioners keeping those basement services going really are the backbone of it all. Our own parish here in Dallas has hosted a couple of displaced Orthodox families from Ukraine, and they tell stories of exactly that — one elderly deacon still leading akathists by flashlight after the power went out. What parish or diocese have you been following most closely for those accounts?

Σπύρος Μιχαηλίδης

I agree, Katerina, the parishes and priests who stay behind really make a huge effort to keep the liturgy and the sacraments alive. The article focuses on communicators, but without parishes the daily church life they describe would not even exist. Do you know any priest in your area who has experienced this?

Γιώργος Παπαγεωργίου

Yes, Spyro, the parishes are the base. In my neighborhood, Pope John from Agia Paraskevi continued to work even when the sirens sounded, just so as not to leave the world without Holy Communion. Have you seen any priest carrying the Holy Gifts with the bus of the route?

Θεοδώρα Αντωνίου

Yes, George, Papa-John did the right thing. In our hospital here in Heraklion we had a priest who brought Holy Gifts on his bicycle when the buses stopped due to a strike. What do you think, does the parish or large organizations like the WCC help more in times like this?

Χρήστος Μακρής

Yes Spyro, the parishes keep the whole daily life upright. In Nicosia, where I am, Father Andreas from Agios Spyridon told me last year that he was baptizing inside the shelter when they had an alarm. Do you think that communicators can help parishes more to share such stories?

Ζωή Χατζή

Yes, Christos, the parishes really keep the daily routine, as you say. What Father Andreas did in the refuge of Saint Spyridon shows how practical our faith is. I think communicators would help a lot if they could find a way to share such stories without making them a "spectacle", perhaps encouraging other parishes to do the same. What do you think, should they start with the local media first?

Olivia Lewis

The flashlight akathist story hits home — our Bible study group read something similar from a parish near Lviv last month. We've been following the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's own news page pretty closely for those firsthand bits. Have the families in Dallas shared which diocese their home parishes were in?

Timothy Parker

The article does focus heavy on the WCC side, you're right. Our own deacon here in Portland mentioned how his cousin's parish in Lviv kept Vespers going in a half-ruined crypt even after the power was out for days; they just used candles and sang quieter. What do you think the biggest gap is in how these visits get reported?

Σπύρος Γεωργίου

Yes, Christos, Father Andreas did the right thing; faith does not wait for the alarm to pass. I believe that communicators would help more if they first learned to listen to the parishes without putting them in shape for the outside. What do you say, we ordinary parishioners should show them how it's done?

Μιχάλης Αθανασίου

Yes, the story of Father Andreas in the refuge of Agios Spyridon is one of those that remain. I agree that it is better to start with the local media, there at least they know the parishes and will not make a spectacle of it. Do you have an example from Crete that worked like this?

Νίκος Κωνσταντίνου

Yes Spyros, you are right that they should listen to the parishes first. Father Andreas showed this in practice, without waiting. How do you imagine us simple people showing it to them? Maybe with a short video from our neighborhood in Patras?

Yes, George, Pope John from Agia Paraskevi showed what a real parish means. I remember last year when I was on night shift at the hospital and the priest came on foot because the road was closed due to works. Do you think that such small things from the parish clergy stay longer in the world than the big missions?

Γιάννης Νικολαΐδης

Yes, Father Andreas and the shelter of Saint Spyridon shows exactly what it means to stay where you are needed. In Crete, I remember last year when the priest in my village took a microphone and did a live broadcast from the church yard when we had the fires, without making a spectacle of it, just so the neighborhoods would know that the liturgy was going on. How do you see it, do you think the local media in Ukraine have enough experience to handle it like this?

Ευάγγελος Αναγνώστου

Yes Spiro, I agree that they should listen to the parishes first and not "photograph" them for foreign eyes. Father Andreas did this spontaneously, like when he stayed chanting in the middle of the alarm last year in Athens. How do you imagine showing it to them without us also becoming "communicators"?

Κώστας Παπαγεωργίου

Yes Spyros, I agree that they should listen to the parishes first and not get them in shape for the outside. Father Andreas did it right, like when he stayed to finish the mass last year in Thessaloniki despite the alarm. How would you do it if you were in the position of such a communicator?

Γεωργία Βασιλείου

Yes, Kostas, Father Andreas really showed priority to the function and not to the impression. If I were in the position of the communicator, I would first let the sequence finish and then I would take out material, without interrupting anything. Do you think that such visits from abroad ultimately help our parishes or do they remain mostly on paper?

Πέτρος Δημητρίου

Yes, Father Andreas in the refuge did everything he had to without showing off. In Cyprus last year with the fires, the priest in my mother's village simply put a loudspeaker in the square and read wishes and news for the parishioners who had stayed behind, without cameras. Do you think that local media could help Ukraine in the same way?