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
A conversation with the 44-year-old bishop Bishop Pavlo Honcharuk of the Ukraine Latin diocese of Kharkiv – Zaporizhzhia. Honcharuk describes life in his diocese at the moment. Could you describe the situation in your diocese, which has become the main theatre of this terrible war? Our Church is alive and active! Priests and faithful are Read more
I have been blacklisted by the Ukraine government. The Center for Countering Disinformation, an agency of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine – which advises the president of Ukraine – has compiled a list of over 78 international figures who are accused of promoting so-called “Russian propaganda.” And I happen to be included Read more
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Pope Francis on Friday, thanking him for his prayers and humanitarian support. Ukrainians would be glad to welcome him if he were able to visit, Zelenskyy told the pope. Francis had already mooted the idea, telling journalists on his return flight from Canada last month that he would like Read more
The war in Ukraine has raged on for nearly five months, and the Rev. Oleksiy Zavada, a Greek Catholic priest in Lviv, has had hardly a moment’s rest. Zavada is quick to point out the city of Lviv has been spared the brunt of violence that’s ripped through many other parts of the country, especially Read more
Hopefully, you didn’t forget that there is (still) a war going on in Ukraine. It isn’t just any war, of course, but a war of conquest perpetrated by Russia invading a sovereign nation. And it is a war that has seen massive numbers of unspeakable war crimes. These war crimes have included, among other things, Read more
I never met my uncle Martin. If he were alive today, he would be in his 90s, but he died when he was three years old, victim of what would today be a minor infection. However, before the development of antibiotics there was no such thing as a minor infection. Had Martin caught that infection Read more
Pope Francis deserves our admiration, prayers and support for his tireless efforts to promote peace and goodwill among nations, peoples and religions, and for constantly reminding us that everything and everybody in the universe are interconnected. His intense advocacy for the health of our planet, his concern for the poor, and his courageous stance to Read more
Pope Francis on Wednesday kissed a battered Ukrainian flag that he said was brought to him from the “martyred” Ukrainian city of Bucha as he denounced the “massacre” there and called again for an end to the war. Francis held the flag as he welcomed a half-dozen Ukrainian refugee children up to the stage of Read more
As I write this the war news gets grimmer by the day. We have gone in the space of a few weeks from ‘it could not happen’ to ‘not in 2022!’ to ‘is there no respect for life – much less for self-determination – in Putin’s vision?’ Meanwhile, many of us are discovering just how Read more