Ukraine Archbishop says " We understand that we are defending our land and therefore we have a moral right to cover our loved ones..."
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today is Thursday, May 12, 2022, and the Ukrainian land has been bleeding for 78 days, repelling the full-scale aggression, the attack of the Russian army on our Motherland. In the east and south of Ukraine: in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions, in the east of Kharkiv region and in Zaporizhia - there are high-intensity battles.
Perhaps we, who live in relatively quiet cities and villages of Ukraine or in peaceful countries abroad, even find it difficult to imagine what it means when tens and thousands of tons of bombs, various explosives, missiles, shells fall incessantly on the heads of our servicemen and civilians who, while in these territories, are unable to save their lives.
Today is Thursday, May 12, 2022, and the Ukrainian land has been bleeding for 78 days, repelling the full-scale aggression, the attack of the Russian army on our Motherland. In the east and south of Ukraine: in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions, in the east of Kharkiv region and in Zaporizhia - there are high-intensity battles.
Perhaps we, who live in relatively quiet cities and villages of Ukraine or in peaceful countries abroad, even find it difficult to imagine what it means when tens and thousands of tons of bombs, various explosives, missiles, shells fall incessantly on the heads of our servicemen and civilians who, while in these territories, are unable to save their lives.
But Ukraine stands. Ukraine is struggling because it believes in God and has the support of its brothers and sisters. We understand that we are defending our land and therefore we have a moral right to cover our loved ones with our hearts from this cruel enemy who is destroying everything in its path.
Today, I would like to reflect with you on another act of charity that, according to Jesus Christ, a person does not only for a person, but also for himself, to visit a prisoner. The Savior describes Himself in the description of the Last Judgment, addressing each person: "I was in prison and you visited Me."
This act of charity is important in wartime. Being in prison is a great drama, personal and public. It is obvious that today we are trying to envelop those who are in prisons in Ukraine with pastoral care. But especially today we pray and think about those who are unjustly held captive by Russia, about those who have been taken hostage in the context of hostilities, about those who are being abused and abused, even in their own homes because they came to his house. enemy.
We are praying today for prisoners of war, especially those about whom we have no information. We have evidence of horrific abuse of prisoners of war, violence and torture.
We grieve deeply for our prisoners of war, of whom we know little. An example of this is our guardsmen, who defended the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with their chests in the first days of the war, during the Russian invasion of this area. Together with their wives and children, we pray for their salvation.
We think especially about the defenders of Mariupol, who are also surrounded. We ask for miracles from the Lord God and the intervention of the international community to save them. Yesterday their wives had the opportunity to meet in person with the Holy Father Francis and tell him all the pain of people who pray and mourn for their loved ones in Mariupol.
My heartfelt thanks to all those who are helping to free innocent prisoners, those who are rescuing prisoners of war. Special thanks to our prison chaplains, who are working to help prisoners find their way to freedom.
The care of prisoners has been a special service of Christian communities since ancient times, from the time of the early Church. And in this difficult time of war in Ukraine, we will be able to serve Christ Himself, who tells us, "I have been imprisoned, come to Me."
God bless Ukraine! God, save our prisoners of war! God bless our army! God, grant peace to Ukraine and the world!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, with His grace and love of man, always, now, and forever and ever. Amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Today, I would like to reflect with you on another act of charity that, according to Jesus Christ, a person does not only for a person, but also for himself, to visit a prisoner. The Savior describes Himself in the description of the Last Judgment, addressing each person: "I was in prison and you visited Me."
This act of charity is important in wartime. Being in prison is a great drama, personal and public. It is obvious that today we are trying to envelop those who are in prisons in Ukraine with pastoral care. But especially today we pray and think about those who are unjustly held captive by Russia, about those who have been taken hostage in the context of hostilities, about those who are being abused and abused, even in their own homes because they came to his house. enemy.
We are praying today for prisoners of war, especially those about whom we have no information. We have evidence of horrific abuse of prisoners of war, violence and torture.
We grieve deeply for our prisoners of war, of whom we know little. An example of this is our guardsmen, who defended the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with their chests in the first days of the war, during the Russian invasion of this area. Together with their wives and children, we pray for their salvation.
We think especially about the defenders of Mariupol, who are also surrounded. We ask for miracles from the Lord God and the intervention of the international community to save them. Yesterday their wives had the opportunity to meet in person with the Holy Father Francis and tell him all the pain of people who pray and mourn for their loved ones in Mariupol.
My heartfelt thanks to all those who are helping to free innocent prisoners, those who are rescuing prisoners of war. Special thanks to our prison chaplains, who are working to help prisoners find their way to freedom.
The care of prisoners has been a special service of Christian communities since ancient times, from the time of the early Church. And in this difficult time of war in Ukraine, we will be able to serve Christ Himself, who tells us, "I have been imprisoned, come to Me."
God bless Ukraine! God, save our prisoners of war! God bless our army! God, grant peace to Ukraine and the world!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, with His grace and love of man, always, now, and forever and ever. Amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
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