Pope Francis' Letter to People Ukraine after 9 Months of War "Your pain is my pain. In the cross of Jesus today I see you, you who suffer the terror unleashed by this aggression."
LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE NINE MONTHS AFTER WAR
Dear Ukrainian brothers and sisters!
On your land, for nine months, the absurd madness of war has been unleashed. In your sky the sinister roar of explosions and the disturbing sound of sirens reverberate without stopping. Your cities are pounded by bombs while showers of missiles cause death, destruction and pain, hunger, thirst and cold. On your streets, many have had to flee, leaving their homes and loved ones. Alongside your great rivers flow rivers of blood and tears every day.
I would like to unite my tears with yours and tell you that there is not a day in which I am not close to you and I do not carry you in my heart and in my prayers. Your pain is my pain. In the cross of Jesus today I see you, you who suffer the terror unleashed by this aggression. Yes, the cross that tortured the Lord lives on in the tortures found on the corpses, in the mass graves discovered in various cities, in those and in many other bloody images that have entered our souls, which raise a cry: why? How can men treat other men like this?
Many tragic stories that I learn about come back to my mind. First of all those of the little ones: how many children killed, injured or orphaned, torn from their mothers! I cry with you for every little one who, because of this war, has lost his life, like Kira in Odessa, like Lisa in Vinnytsia, and like hundreds of other children: in each of them the whole of humanity is defeated. Now they are in the womb of God, they see your troubles and they pray that they will end. But how can we not feel anguish for them and for all those, young and old, who have been deported? The pain of Ukrainian mothers is incalculable.
I think then of you, young people, who in order to courageously defend your homeland had to take up arms rather than the dreams you had nurtured for the future; I think of you, wives, who have lost your husbands and biting your lips continue in silence, with dignity and determination, to make every sacrifice for your children; to you, adults, who try in every way to protect your loved ones; to you, elders, who instead of having a peaceful sunset were thrown into the dark night of war; to you, women who have suffered violence and who carry heavy weights in their hearts; to all of you, wounded in body and soul. I think of you and am close to you with affection and admiration for how you face such tough trials.
And I think of you, volunteers, who spend every day for the people; to you, Shepherds of God's holy people, who - often at great risk to your safety - have stayed close to the people, bringing God's consolation and the solidarity of brothers, creatively transforming community places and convents into lodgings where you can offer hospitality , relief and food to those in difficult conditions. Again, I think of refugees and internally displaced persons, who find themselves far from their homes, many of which have been destroyed; and to the Authorities, for whom I pray: they have the duty to govern the country in tragic times and to make farsighted decisions for peace and to develop the economy during the destruction of so many vital infrastructures, in the city and in the countryside.
Dear brothers and sisters, in all this sea of evil and pain - ninety years after the terrible genocide of the Holodomor - I am in awe of your good ardor. Despite the immense tragedy it is undergoing, the Ukrainian people have never been discouraged or abandoned to pity. The world has recognized a bold and strong people, a people that suffers and prays, weeps and fights, resists and hopes: a noble and martyred people. I continue to be close to you, with my heart and with prayers, with humanitarian concern, so that you feel accompanied, so that you do not get used to war, so that you are not left alone today and above all tomorrow, when perhaps there will be the temptation to forget the your sufferings.
In these months, in which the rigidity of the climate makes what you are experiencing even more tragic, I would like the affection of the Church, the strength of prayer, the good that so many brothers and sisters at all latitudes love you to be caresses on your face. In a few weeks it will be Christmas and the screeching of suffering will be felt even more. But I would like to go back with you to Bethlehem, to the trial that the Holy Family had to face on that night, which only seemed cold and dark. Instead, the light came: not from men, but from God; not from the earth, but from Heaven.
His and our Mother, Our Lady, watch over you. To her Immaculate Heart, in union with the Bishops of the world, I have consecrated the Church and humanity, especially your country and Russia. To her Mother's Heart I present your sufferings and your tears. To her who, as a great son of your land wrote, "brought God into our world", let us never tire of asking for the longed-for gift of peace, in the certainty that "nothing is impossible for God" (Lk 1:37). May he fulfill the just expectations of your hearts, heal your wounds and give you his consolation. I am with you, I am praying for you and I ask you to pray for me.
May the Lord bless you and Our Lady keep you.
Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano, 24 November 2022
FRANCIS
TO THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE NINE MONTHS AFTER WAR
Dear Ukrainian brothers and sisters!
On your land, for nine months, the absurd madness of war has been unleashed. In your sky the sinister roar of explosions and the disturbing sound of sirens reverberate without stopping. Your cities are pounded by bombs while showers of missiles cause death, destruction and pain, hunger, thirst and cold. On your streets, many have had to flee, leaving their homes and loved ones. Alongside your great rivers flow rivers of blood and tears every day.
I would like to unite my tears with yours and tell you that there is not a day in which I am not close to you and I do not carry you in my heart and in my prayers. Your pain is my pain. In the cross of Jesus today I see you, you who suffer the terror unleashed by this aggression. Yes, the cross that tortured the Lord lives on in the tortures found on the corpses, in the mass graves discovered in various cities, in those and in many other bloody images that have entered our souls, which raise a cry: why? How can men treat other men like this?
Many tragic stories that I learn about come back to my mind. First of all those of the little ones: how many children killed, injured or orphaned, torn from their mothers! I cry with you for every little one who, because of this war, has lost his life, like Kira in Odessa, like Lisa in Vinnytsia, and like hundreds of other children: in each of them the whole of humanity is defeated. Now they are in the womb of God, they see your troubles and they pray that they will end. But how can we not feel anguish for them and for all those, young and old, who have been deported? The pain of Ukrainian mothers is incalculable.
I think then of you, young people, who in order to courageously defend your homeland had to take up arms rather than the dreams you had nurtured for the future; I think of you, wives, who have lost your husbands and biting your lips continue in silence, with dignity and determination, to make every sacrifice for your children; to you, adults, who try in every way to protect your loved ones; to you, elders, who instead of having a peaceful sunset were thrown into the dark night of war; to you, women who have suffered violence and who carry heavy weights in their hearts; to all of you, wounded in body and soul. I think of you and am close to you with affection and admiration for how you face such tough trials.
And I think of you, volunteers, who spend every day for the people; to you, Shepherds of God's holy people, who - often at great risk to your safety - have stayed close to the people, bringing God's consolation and the solidarity of brothers, creatively transforming community places and convents into lodgings where you can offer hospitality , relief and food to those in difficult conditions. Again, I think of refugees and internally displaced persons, who find themselves far from their homes, many of which have been destroyed; and to the Authorities, for whom I pray: they have the duty to govern the country in tragic times and to make farsighted decisions for peace and to develop the economy during the destruction of so many vital infrastructures, in the city and in the countryside.
Dear brothers and sisters, in all this sea of evil and pain - ninety years after the terrible genocide of the Holodomor - I am in awe of your good ardor. Despite the immense tragedy it is undergoing, the Ukrainian people have never been discouraged or abandoned to pity. The world has recognized a bold and strong people, a people that suffers and prays, weeps and fights, resists and hopes: a noble and martyred people. I continue to be close to you, with my heart and with prayers, with humanitarian concern, so that you feel accompanied, so that you do not get used to war, so that you are not left alone today and above all tomorrow, when perhaps there will be the temptation to forget the your sufferings.
In these months, in which the rigidity of the climate makes what you are experiencing even more tragic, I would like the affection of the Church, the strength of prayer, the good that so many brothers and sisters at all latitudes love you to be caresses on your face. In a few weeks it will be Christmas and the screeching of suffering will be felt even more. But I would like to go back with you to Bethlehem, to the trial that the Holy Family had to face on that night, which only seemed cold and dark. Instead, the light came: not from men, but from God; not from the earth, but from Heaven.
His and our Mother, Our Lady, watch over you. To her Immaculate Heart, in union with the Bishops of the world, I have consecrated the Church and humanity, especially your country and Russia. To her Mother's Heart I present your sufferings and your tears. To her who, as a great son of your land wrote, "brought God into our world", let us never tire of asking for the longed-for gift of peace, in the certainty that "nothing is impossible for God" (Lk 1:37). May he fulfill the just expectations of your hearts, heal your wounds and give you his consolation. I am with you, I am praying for you and I ask you to pray for me.
May the Lord bless you and Our Lady keep you.
Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano, 24 November 2022
FRANCIS
Source: Vatican.va
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