One year after invasion, Ukrainian flag flies over Civic Centre

The Ukrainian flag is flying over the Civic Centre in Sault Ste. Marie and residents and newcomers mark one year since that country was invaded.

Father Michael Hayes of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Church was relatively new to the congregation when war broke out last year.

Hayes said support and prayers for Ukraine have been part of his sermons over the past year, but not necessarily in the way one might think.

“I will mention it in my preaching, but it’s not my focus. Certainly the war and different aspects and moral complexities that arise in war I do mention when it is appropriate,” said Hayes.

His most recent sermon was on Forgiveness Sunday, the last Sunday before the beginning of Lent. 

“In that instance I had to be very clear in saying what forgiveness is and is not,” said Hayes. “If you hurt me and I forgive you, I am not saying what you did was okay. If you hurt me and I forgive you, what I am actually doing is choosing to release any anger or bitterness or resentment I have against you. That’s the core of forgiveness. I am not going to let you occupy space in my heart or my mind any more, let you go so I can deal with the pain that I have.”

“In the context of this war — my goodness — these people who have come from cities that have been bombed to smithereens, they have lost loved ones, all because of the whims of a tyrannical homicidal maniac and the people and the ideology who support him. When it comes to forgiveness — which is necessary — this is where it gets very real very quickly in a very visceral and profound way,” said Hayes.

An estimated 50 to 65 newcomer Ukrainian families have taken refuge in the Sault and immediate are over the past 12 months. Many of them keep in touch using apps like WhatsApp.

Hayes said some come to his church and some do not, but he and some members of the congregation hope St. Mary’s can hold more events and be a sort of hub for the newcomer community.

“They are all over the city, they have their jobs now and some of them are doing English classes — they are all over the place like everyone else and living life like the rest of us,” said Hayes. “These kinds of event and other ones after it would give them the opportunity to just be together.”

Until summer of 2019, newly elected Ward 4 councillor Stephan Kinach was living and working in Ukraine and travelling back and forth. His wife Solomiia was living in the country until January of 2022.

On Tuesday Kinach stood alongside Mayor Matthew Shoemaker at the Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre to raise the Ukrainian flag.

The same day, city council approved his resolution to support Ukraine and its people in response to the war.

Reached by phone on Friday, Kinach said the flag will be up for a week.

”I’d ask everyone to keep Ukraine in their thoughts and their prayers today and looking forward because we are going to need the support and to put some pressure on your elected officials to continue supporting Ukraine,” he said.

A few hundred metres from the Ukrainian flag, an empty flagpole still stands where the Russian flag once flew. It was removed last year by order of then-mayor Christian Provenzano.

Kinach told SooToday it is nice to see so many Ukrainians making Sault Ste. Marie their home — even if it's temporary as part of the three-year Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel.

“I think they will add a lot to our city in terms of culture and diversity. There are a whole bunch of different people with different skills and educations and I think our community will benefit if we keep them in our city and get them working,” said Kinach.

Many Ukrainians who have come to the Sault were already living outside of the country when it was invaded, said Kinach, adding the Ukrainians who remain in the country just want peace.

“They want to be able to work and don’t really want to go to Canada or anywhere else, they want to continue on with their lives and they want to be a free Ukraine,” he said. “What we would like to see is the complete return of all occupied Ukrainian territory and the withdrawal of Russian troops, at the minimum. This would be very good and the goal Ukraine has because they want their sovereignty and independence. This is what they are fighting for.”