UKRAINE: ‘We face death every day’ says priest hoping for peace this Christmas

UKRAINE’S Christians are praying for “God to be present” this Christmas despite facing death “every day”.

Father Lucas Perozzi who ministers in the small town of Bila Tserkva, about 62 miles (100km) from the capital Kyiv, told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that his war-torn parish is yearning for God.

He said: “We hope that God will be present in these holidays, that he will make himself present to us, even if the war does not end.

“Even when the war does end, problems will remain, we will have the economic hardship and anarchy that comes in the aftermath of conflict.”

Originally from Brazil, Fr Perozzi has served as a missionary in Ukraine for 22 years.

The February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has had devastating impacts on the country.

According to Fr Perozzi, the war is on everybody’s mind and death is a constant companion.

He said: “Every day we hear of soldiers killed in the war, and every day there is a burial nearby. We face death every day.”

As temperatures drop rapidly across the country, airstrikes often target energy systems. 

He told ACN: “We have blackouts every day. Sometimes we celebrate Mass by candlelight or a battery powered flashlight when it is charged. 

“The electricity is turned off at 4 am and only turned back on again at around 5 pm.

“Sometimes we have electricity, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we have water, then we don’t. Sometimes we have food, other times we go hungry. 

“Prices are rising, and people don’t know what to do. It is a miracle that people manage to live at all, especially the refugees from the east who live here now, I don’t know how they even survive.”

The small Catholic community in Bila Tserkva worship in a church which was confiscated under the Soviet Union and still belongs to the state. 

Fr Perozzi said: “Now we have to pay rent to pray in the church that was stolen from us. And every year we have to renew an agreement with the Ministry for Culture.” 

The priest said life has been hard for years but having got used to air raid sirens in Kyiv, his first night in Bila Tserkva heralded an uncertain future.

He said: “On my first day there was a missile attack, a big one. And the major difference to Kyiv was that while in the capital they used to be mostly intercepted, Bila Tserkva doesn’t have the same air defence systems, so they all hit their targets.

“A four-story building collapsed, two people were killed and eight wounded, and several other houses were damaged.”

The previous parish priest began building a new centre to serve the community, with ACN’s help. 

Fr Perozzi said the building will have chapels, rooms for youth ministry and a rehabilitation centre for war veterans.

He added: “All I really wish for is for God to appear in the life of each person I have been sent to. 

“I pray for them every day, for my parishioners, that God might be born unto each of them, because our life here is very fragile.”

With thanks to Paulo Aido.