Ukrainian bishops make ‘pilgrimage to the suffering’ after Ternopil strike

‘We want to be with you today so that you know that your Church loves you, that your pain is the pain of the whole body of Christ’s Church, both in Ukraine and in the world.’

The Catholic bishops of Ukraine prayed at the site of a Russian strike in the city of Ternopil which killed at least 33 people.

The apostolic nuncio to Ukraine Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas said the bishops made “a pilgrimage to the suffering” from their annual retreat “to hug the family members of the deceased”.

Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) and the country’s small Latin-rite Church began their joint retreat on Tuesday in Zarvanytsia, about 50 miles from Ternopil, in western Ukraine.

A Russian missile and drone attack hit two apartment blocks in the city on 19 November, killing 33 people including six children, with six others including a child still missing. Nearly 100 people were injured.

“We are here, at this scene of tragedy, to embrace our wounded Ternopil,” said the UGCC leader Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk at a prayer service for the victims.

“We want to be with you today so that you know that your Church loves you, that your pain is the pain of the whole body of Christ’s Church, both in Ukraine and in the world.”

On Sunday, he said the strikes showed the Russian invasion was “no longer a war, no longer a confrontation between the military forces of two countries – this is deliberate mass murder of civilians”. Pope Leo told reporters on Tuesday that he called “everyone to a ceasefire [in Ukraine] because so many are still dying”.

Archbishop Kulbokas told The Tablet that on their return to Zarvanytsia the bishops discussed the Church’s humanitarian work, ahead of their separate plenary meetings as the UGCC synod and the Latin bishops’ conference.

“One aspect is clear: the most important thing is to be together with those who suffer the most,” he said. “It is not always possible to find words, and sometimes it is harmful to resort to words. And being together, listening, hugging and accompanying in prayer is very important.”

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