In eastern Ukraine people have grown numb to the danger of air raids but faith is growing, a local bishop says. Source: Aid to the Church in Need.
For much of the world, and even for many people inside Ukraine, the war with Russia began in 2022 with the launch of the full-scale invasion. But those who live in the east of the country have been living in a state of conflict since 2014.
Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo, of the Latin rite Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia, recently visited the headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Germany, and shared the experience of serving a region torn by war.
“ACN has been helping us since 1991 with everything we need for our mission and our work: structure, cars, fuel, basic help. We thought everything was good, and our mission could continue, but then the war came. Nobody expected the war to start in 2014, and then the situation got much worse after the invasion in 2022,” he said.
Several major cities in the diocese are under occupation, and no priests remain to serve there. Meanwhile, other parishes have increased in size due to the influx of people fleeing the occupied territories. Most came empty-handed and found help in the Church.
“Some of them don’t know God, but they feel in their hearts that they need something, and they found it in our community. The priests and sisters make them feel like they have a new family. We distribute bread and food, and people say: ‘You did not only give me bread, but also a taste of God,’” the bishop explained.
The leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major-Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, recently announced that his Church has grown from eight to 12 percent of the population in recent years, and Bishop Jan Sobilo confirmed a similar trend among the Latin Church in the east of the country.
Over the past years, the diocese has been preparing dozens of people for reception of the sacraments of initiation, and has a group of 40 adults preparing to be received into the Church at Easter.
“I have no doubt that God has a plan for Ukraine. Perhaps we cannot see this plan yet, or understand it, it may be a surprise, but He has not forgotten us,” Bishop Sobilo said.
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Ukraine: “You did not only give us food, but a taste of God” (ACN)
