Ukrainian bishops today expressed to Pope Francis “the suffering and a certain disappointment” of the Ukrainian people with some statements and gestures from the head of the Catholic Church, the religious announced.
Some of the pope’s gestures and statements “are painful and difficult for the Ukrainian people, who are currently bleeding in the struggle for their dignity and independence,” the bishops said in a statement quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
Francis met with the bishops who are in Rome until Sept. 13 to participate in the synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the meeting was an opportunity for “candid conversation,” as described in the statement.
The bishops said they had told the pope what the faithful had entrusted them with to convey, including the misunderstandings that have arisen between Kiev and the Vatican since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.
Such misunderstandings “are used by Russian propaganda to justify and support the murderous ideology of the Russian world,” said the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
“The faithful of our Church are sensitive to every word of Your Holiness as a universal voice of truth and justice,” he said.
The pope has recently been criticized, including by Ukrainian diplomats, for praising Russia’s cultural heritage during a meeting with young Russians.
Francis clarified on Monday, returning from a visit to Mongolia, that he was limiting himself to repeating what he always tells young people around the world to preserve their cultural heritage.
Francis acknowledged that “perhaps he was not very happy” when he referred to Greater Russia and mentioned Peter the Great and Catherine of Russia, but assured that he was only thinking of the cultural dimension.
“It was not a reference to the geographical plan, but rather a cultural one,” he stated at the time.
The Ukrainian bishops noted that the Pope explained the meaning of what he said to the Russian students and reaffirmed his position with the Ukrainian people.
As a special gesture, the Argentine pope carried with him an icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God), which was given to him by Sviatoslav Shevchuk when the head of the Ukrainian Church was auxiliary bishop in Buenos Aires.
“I pray for him every day for Ukraine,” he told Ukrainian bishops.
The bishops thanked Francis’ initiatives for the release of prisoners of war and the efforts of his personal envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, to seek peace between Russia and Ukraine.
They called for continued efforts to free prisoners of war, citing in particular the Redemptorist Fathers Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Haleta, who are still held captive in Russia.
The Vatican said in a separate statement that Francis told bishops during the nearly two-hour meeting that Ukrainian children he meets in the audience “look and forget to smile.”
“This is one of the fruits of war: taking away the smiles of children,” Francis added, quoted by the Vatican.
Source: DN
