The archbishop wants more international support in areas where the Ukrainian government struggles to provide adequate resources.

Archbishop Kulbokas highlighted three critical areas of concern during a video conference organised by Caritas Lithuania on 20 August.

Two involve aiding prisoners of war, including children and civilians deported to Russia, and providing support to those returning to Ukraine, many of whom have suffered severe abuse including sexual violence.

"This area is in the most acute need of the Catholic humanitarian efforts, like Caritas and their volunteers, because the Ukrainian government simply lacks adequate resources to tackle this problem" said Kulbokas, addressing the conference from Kyiv.

The third involves the importance of "monitoring the field of information".

"The Ukrainian people, traumatised by war and unceasing stress, can sometimes respond inadequately to the providers of humanitarian aid" he said. The archbishop added "Our priority should be not to judge them but prevent the attempts to frame such incidents as the reasons to cut the aid to Ukraine".

Harrowing accounts

Archbishop Kulbokas revealed that around 3,000 prisoners of war have been released through exchanges mediated by countries such as Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates at the request of Russian negotiators. The Holy See's efforts also facilitated the release of ten civilians including two priests on 28 June.

The Archbishop shared harrowing accounts from some of the released prisoners who described brutal conditions including forced standing for hours, inadequate food and severe beatings.

"All the ex-prisoners whom I have talked to said they'd rather be dead [than be in prison]" Kulbokas reported.

None of the released prisoners had been allowed visits by the representatives of the Red Cross, so Russian claims to the contrary are lies Kulbokas stated.

The nuncio earned respect among the diplomatic corps by remaining in Kyiv when the invasion began in February 2022. He said this decision depended on courage and prayer.

"If we take our potential seriously, the impossible becomes possible" he said.

Sources

The Tablet

In an 25 August briefing, Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba told journalists that summoning a nuncio to the ministry was unprecedented. He said more details about the meeting would be forthcoming.

"I will say frankly that the Ukrainian heart is torn by the pope's words. It was unfair," Kuleba added.

At the end of his general audience talk in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican on 24 August, six months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis repeated his calls for peace and spoke of how so many people were affected by war. He noted that no nationalities were spared when it came to children becoming orphans in war, and he said "war is madness" on all sides.

As an example, the pope spoke of "that poor girl flown into the air because of a bomb under her car seat in Moscow. The innocent pay for war. The innocent."

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