People willing to ‘risk their lives rather than leave’ says Ukrainian bishop
A BISHOP in eastern Ukraine has said you never know when death will come – as two people were killed and three wounded in strikes this morning (Monday, 23rd February).
Russian drones hit industrial, energy and civil infrastructure in Odesa and Kharkiv, and a man also died and another was injured in Zaporizhzhia, just one day before the fourth anniversary of the 2022 invasion that has left millions dead or harmed.
Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Bishop Jan Sobilo, the auxiliary bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia Diocese, said that from the beginning they and parishioners never felt “the war would get worse”.
Even before the February 2022 invasion, the east of the country was plunged into war following a 2014 uprising by Russian-backed separatists.
Bishop Sobilo said bombings have become routine and air raid sirens were now so common that people do not bother to go to the shelters.
The Roman Catholic bishop added: “They stay where they are. They say they prefer to risk their lives but at least live in the meantime.
“It’s not only the attacks on our cities, drones and rockets fly overhead to Kyiv so the sirens go off dozens of times a day.”
He said people had not rejected God, that some had found faith.
He added: “I don’t know anybody who lost their faith. An officer once told me that among all the people he knew on the front line, there are no atheists.
“You never know when your time will come.”
Bishop Sobilo said presiding over the funerals of young men was the most challenging for him.
He said: “The worst for me is to see the mothers who have lost their children. I remember one case, in particular, of a young man who was drafted soon after finishing school.
“He did his training, then went to the front line and died two weeks later. His body was never recovered. Seeing his mother mourn her only child in this way was heart-breaking.”
The bishop added: “Everybody has someone close who has died because of the war. You never know when your time will come.
“That is why we tell people they should go to confession at least once a week, so that they are always prepared, and that is also why people turn to the Church to prepare for the sacraments.”
The diocese currently has 40 adults preparing to be received into the Church at Easter.
He said ACN had been helping his diocese since 1991 with everything they needed for their mission and work – structure, cars, fuel, basic help.
“We thought everything was good, and our mission could continue, but then the war came.
“Nobody expected the war to start in 2014, and then the situation got much worse after the invasion in 2022.”
Bishop Sobilo said several major cities in the diocese are under occupation, and no priests remain to serve there.
However other parishes have increased in size due to the influx of people fleeing the occupied territories, most of whom arrived empty-handed.
He said “thousands of people” have been helped through ACN’s support.
The auxiliary bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia added: “Some of them don’t know God, but they feel in their hearts that they need something, and they found it in our community.
“The priests and sisters make them feel like they have a new family. We distribute bread and food, and people say – ‘you did not only give me bread, but also a taste of God’.”
He added: “This isn’t just another project, these are real people, we see their faces and know their stories.
“We know that because of ACN’s benefactors we will not starve, and we can continue to spread the Gospel. Without your help our Church would be like in Soviet times.”
Thanks to Filipe d’Avillez
