Ukrainian bishops speak of ministry amid suffering

March 27, 2015

Two Ukrainian bishops spoke with Aid to the Church in Need about the suffering they have encountered in their ministry in the past year.

“Wounded soldiers from the east are being cared for at a temporary military hospital set up in the Greek-Catholic cathedral in Kiev,” said Bishop Jaroslav Pryriz. “Never before have I seen so much suffering, sorrow and tragedy. I am 53 years-old and have never experienced war, but what I am seeing now—people without hands, without legs, without eyes, ears—will haunt me forever.”

The prelate said that his priests minister to soldiers on the front lines in 45-day rotations.

“Some who return never want to go back again because the psychological strain is just enormous,” he said. “However, they go back because they want to take care of the faithful.”

“No one expected that another war would be carried out on European soil in this day and age,” added Bishop Bronislaw Bernacki of Odessa-Simferopol, whose diocese includes Crimea.

 

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Further information:

• Churches in Ukraine confront fearsome suffering (Aid to the Church in Need)