'Push him out like a cancer': Fall River Ukrainian church priest blasts Russia's Putin

FALL RIVER — The Rev. Roman Golemba might be a man of the cloth, but he says it’s going to take a lot more than prayer to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop his military invasion of Ukraine.

“The only way is for all the free countries of the world to stop him directly,” Golemba said. “The only way I see it is with military action.

“They need to roll in the tanks and push him out like a cancer,” he added.

Golemba, 74, is now retired. But for nearly 32 years he was both the administrator and only priest at the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Fall River and the full-time pastor of St. Michael the Archangel in Woonsocket, R.I.

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Both churches belong to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Connecticut, with an eparchy, or territory, that includes New England and New York State.

On Thursday Golemba presided over a special Mass to pray for the people of Ukraine at 5 p.m. in the Woonsocket church.

The call to prayer came less than a day after Russian military forces launched a military invasion of its neighboring country, which in 1991 gained independence after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union.

President Joe Biden has announced economic sanctions against Russia and ordered additional U.S. troops to Germany, but at the same time has said that the United States will not become directly involved in military action in Ukraine.

In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed the peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine.

Golemba, who says he’s never been to Ukraine but has some distant relatives in the country, said he also sympathizes with those Russian citizens who have protested against Putin’s actions and, in some cases, are being arrested.

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“Russia has some good people who do not want to annihilate their neighbors and do not support this man and his ego,” he said.

“They know there is nothing to merit this invasion, this unjust action,” Golemba said. “They know they could become the most hated country in the world because of it.”

Putin 'reminds me of Stalin'

Putin is a former intelligence officer who has served in high-ranking positions in Russia's government since 1999.

He was prime minister from 1999 to 2000, became president from 2000 to 2008, prime minister again from 2008 to 2012, and has remained president ever since.

Golemba said Putin “has no conscience whatsoever — nobody thought he could be so evil.”

“He reminds me of Stalin,” Golemba said, referring to the Soviet leader whose pre-World War II policies of forced collectivization, political executions and labor camps led to the deaths of an estimated 20 million people.

Golemba also cautioned against Putin’s territorial ambitions as they relate to Eastern European countries that border Ukraine.

“We have to realize he will not stop with Ukraine. Where do we draw the line?” he said.

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Golemba said it’s commonly known that Putin, who is now 69, was “very disappointed” when former Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s adopted and supported the idea of “glasnost” and its ideals of increased political transparency and free speech.

Golemba also said he won’t be shocked if someone in the Russian government tries to assassinate Putin: “I would not be surprised at all.”

“Who wants to live in the most hated country in the world? It’s like when they tried to kill Hitler,” he said, referring to the failed attempt in 1944 by a group of military officers within the Nazi regime to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

A dwindling local Ukrainian population

Golemba said he was born in Germany in 1947 and immigrated two years later with his parents to Brazil. In 1962, he said, the family, including his sister, moved to Boston.

He said he underwent seminary training in Stamford, spent four years in Rome and was ordained in 1975.

Golemba said he now lives in and pays rent for the seminary house next to the Fall River church on Center Street.

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He estimated there are now just 10 families of Ukrainian descent in Fall River and 50 families in and around Woonsocket.

In 2002, when Republican presidential candidate Gov. Mitt Romney debated President Barack Obama, he was criticized for referring to Russia as the “biggest political threat facing America.”

Golemba said the former Massachusetts governor and Utah senator knew what he was talking about.

“He was absolutely right,” he said.

Charles Winokoor may be reached at cwinokoor@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism and subscribe to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River Ukrainian priest calls for military action against Russia