The Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, could not hold back tears when speaking about Ukraine.
The atmosphere was very, very touching. Especially, when Shevchuck burst into tears and everybody also started crying because it reminded us of the war, of our people, of our heroes who die every day for us, so that we can live here.
It was during the Divine Liturgy held at the Vatican. There, hundreds of Ukrainian pilgrims from all over Europe gathered to pray for the end of the war. They also commemorated the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Josaphat, patron saint of Ukraine, whose remains rest in St. Peter's Basilica.
It was a difficult time for many of the Ukrainians who attended this celebration because, although they live in Italy and other European countries, their families remain in the center of the war.
We had a very hard time because my mother and grandmother were in Mariupol. For two months we didn't even know if they were alive or not. Then we found them and got them out of the city. They were in the basement of their building for two months because their apartment was hit by a tank. They survived by a miracle. One minute before they came out, at the moment, a tank shell hit the apartment.
Present at the Eucharist was the Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals and Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, Leonardo Sandri. Major Archbishop Shevchuk dedicated these words to him.
When the war really broke out he was crying with me—I was telling him of the attrocity of the Russia army who did this massacre near Kyiv, just 12 miles from my house.
Cardinal Sandri then recalled that trip to Ukraine with John Paul II, in 2001, when he was a substitute for the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.
It was in this capacity that I visited Ukraine for the first time, together with St. John Paul II, after having followed the preparations for that great Apostolic Journey. It sealed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reacquisition of sovereignty and freedom of the country, called to develop with maturity the values of freedom, justice, of an authentic democratic exercise that would be at the service of all and not of a few individuals.
Those present spent the day in prayer, asking for for the end of the war and that their relatives could once again live in peace in Ukraine.
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