Allegations of systematic attacks by the Russian military against Ukrainian religious leaders and deliberate destruction of churches have sparked outrage. The outrage follows the death last month of a 59-year-old Orthodox priest, Fr Stepan Podolchak (pictured). The Tablet reports he was tortured to death by Russian soldiers. Human rights groups condemned his death and those Read more
After a close aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Pope Francis of being a Russophile, and the Vatican of receiving Russian funds, the Catholic Church issued a statement denying the accusations on Sunday (Sept 10). “The IOR does not receive or invest money from Russia,” read a statement by the Institute for Religious Works, Read more
A Vatican plan is underway to reunite Ukrainian children with their families, a senior Vatican official says. The Ukrainian children were taken to Russia during the war. The plan The Holy See’s plan to reunite the children followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s explicit request for its help, when he met Pope Francis at the Vatican Read more
US Bishops’ International Justice and Peace Chairman, Bishop David J. Malloy, has expressed public concern regarding President Joe Biden’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs for use against Russian forces. He is raising questions about the ethical implications of the Catholic President’s move. Malloy, in a statement issued by the Peace Committee, highlighted the Read more
As long as there has been a war in Ukraine people have called for peace. Some propose peace simply defined as a halt to the fighting. They cite the suffering: More than 300,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded, thousands of civilians have been killed, and more than nine million Ukrainians have Read more
The contemplative Benedictines of Solonka, in Ukraine, near Lviv, are used to silence and external solitude, but they have opened the doors of their monastery and their cloister to hosting refugees affected by the war. Since the end of February 2022, they have welcomed hundreds of needy families. “During the first few weeks of the Read more
Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, is warning of a looming disastrous global food crisis. The Italian version of the paper devoted most of its 24 May front page to the matter saying the crisis will be particularly catastrophic in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. The paper says the food shortage is a direct Read more
Pope Francis has warned the leader of Russia’s Orthodox Church that he “cannot become Putin’s altar boy.” In a recent media interview Francis says Patriarch Kirill’s support of the war in Ukraine became clear to him during their 40-minute zoom discussion in March. In this, Kirill spent half the time reading out justifications for President Read more
A religious sister based in Ukraine speaks of invading Russian forces butchering innocent people. The Russia-Ukraine war isn’t a war of military combat between armies using weapons, she explains. It’s something else. She speaks of massacres. Of dead children. Dead civilians. Of repression and brutal sexual assaults on women and children. Sister Ligy Payyappilly sees Read more
People leaving war-torn countries, like Ukraine, for a new life in New Zealand all bring one thing with them – hope, an immigration industry veteran says. New Zealand’s history of helping out people amid violent conflicts include Polish refugees in the 1940s, Vietnamese and Cambodian people in the 1970s and 1980s, and people from Somalia Read more