Time.news – Pope Francis renewed his closeness to the tormented Ukraine and “assured him that he is at the side of the Ukrainian people in prayer and action”. This was reported by the major archbishop of Kiev, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church who was received today by the Pontiff in the Apostolic Palace.
Shevchuk who did not leave Ukraine from Russian aggression while remaining in Kiev to give support and comfort to the battered population, brought the fragment of a Russian mine that destroyed the facade of the building of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as a gift to the Holy Father in the town of Irpin ‘, near Kiev, in March.
It is a very symbolic gift, not only because Irpin ‘is one of the first “martyr cities” hit by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, but also because, the major archbishop points out, similar pieces of mine are extracted from the bodies of military, civilians and Ukrainian children, a visible sign of the destruction and death that war brings every day.
Bergoglio then renewed his closeness to what he calls “the tormented Ukrainian people”, and assured him that he stands alongside the Ukrainian people in prayer and action. Pope Francis also encouraged the major Archbishop and his pastors to “evangelical service of proximity to the suffering people, oppressed by fear and war violence”.
The Pontiff, Shevchuk always reports, also has reaffirmed the commitment of the Holy See for an end to the aggression and the arrival of a just peace. The Holy See’s commitment, the Pope said, is also to promote solidarity for the Ukrainian people, as well as to support peace efforts.
The major archbishop, the note reads, for his part, said he wanted to bring the cry of the Ukrainian people to the Pope. “The war in Ukraine – he said – is a colonial war and the peace proposals that come from Russia are colonial peace proposals. These proposals imply the denial of the existence of the Ukrainian people, of its history, culture and even the Church. It is the denial of the Ukrainian state’s right to exist, recognized by the international community with its sovereignty and territorial integrity. On these premises, Russia’s proposals lack a subject for dialogue ”.
The head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church presented to the Pope the work done by the Church to support the people in conditions of war and told what he saw while visiting communities in central, eastern and southern Ukraine, the territories most affected by the war. “I told the Pope about the service of our bishops, priests, monks and nuns in the territories currently occupied. I emphasized that all our pastors have remained close to the suffering people. I explained that each of our cathedral, church and monastery have become centers of refuge, hospitality and humanitarian service, ”Shevchuk said.
It was to the Pope also presented the 2023 pastoral plan of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Churchat the center of which “there is service to the weakest, welcoming and accompanying the displaced, the treatment of wounds caused by war”.
Shevchuk also thanked the Pope for all that has been done to stop the war and mediate peace, free hostages and prisoners, organize the universal solidarity of the Catholic Church in favor of the suffering Ukrainian people.