VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Stepping up his already concerted efforts to safe peace in Ukraine, Pope Francis will deploy two of his most trusted Vatican officers, each cardinals, to go to Ukraine to hunt an finish to the battle and to advocate for immigrants and refugees and foster relations with native church buildings.
In what the Vatican known as “a unprecedented gesture,” Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Michael Czerny will go to the battle zone. Czerny is the advert interim prefect of the Vatican Division for Selling Integral Human Improvement. Krajewski holds the title of papal almoner, formally charged with performing acts of mercy on behalf of the pope.
“The Holy See has put itself on the service of reaching peace in Ukraine,” the Vatican stated in a press release issued on Monday (March 7), including that the 2 cardinals “are directed to Ukraine and relying on the state of affairs they intend to achieve the nation within the coming days.”
Cardinal Michael Czerny on Thursday, Could 6, 2021. RNS picture by Claire Giangravé
Czerny will go to Hungary on Tuesday (March 8) to help migrants coming into the nation from neighboring Ukraine. In response to the Vatican assertion, the cardinal will elevate consciousness for different conflicts at present going down all over the world and “elevate concern that African and Asian residents in Ukraine, additionally struggling worry and displacement, be allowed to hunt refuge with out discrimination.”
Latest media studies confirmed that some African and South Asian residents looking for to flee Ukraine have been met with hostility by Ukrainian officers on the border and weren’t allowed to board the trains, which gave precedence to white refugees.
“There are additionally worrisome studies of accelerating actions of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants on the borders and within the neighboring international locations,” the assertion learn, including that since many refugees are Christians, Czerny “will affirm that non secular help must be provided to everybody, with sensitivity to ecumenical and interfaith variations.”
Krajewski will go to Poland, the place he’ll deal with serving to migrants and volunteers on the border till he can discover secure passage into Ukraine itself. The target is “to achieve people who find themselves struggling,” Krajewski informed Vatican information retailers, within the identify of the pope, and to “inform them that he loves them, (and) pray with them, as a result of prayer is even able to stopping battle,” Krajewski informed Vatican information retailers.
The pope’s determination to ship two high-ranking Vatican officers so carefully tied to Francis could be interpreted as a definitive dedication by the Holy See to assist mediate the Russian-Ukrainian battle, which day-after-day dangers drifting additional away from a peaceable decision.
“The Holy See is able to do every thing, to place itself on the service of this peace,” Francis stated throughout his weekly prayer service on Sunday (March 6). “The presence of the 2 cardinals there may be the presence not solely of the pope, however of all of the Christian individuals who wish to get nearer and say: ‘Battle is insanity! Cease, please! Have a look at this cruelty!’”
The pope lamented that “rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine” and stated that the present battle is “not merely a navy operation, however a battle, which sows dying, destruction and distress.”
Individuals fleeing the battle from neighboring Ukraine, arrive on the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Picture/Czarek Sokolowski)
Because the variety of refugees fleeing the nation handed 1.5 million over the weekend, the pope emphasised the necessity for worldwide cooperation and humanitarian help.
Francis repeated his “heartfelt attraction” for the creation of humanitarian corridors, able to bringing folks safely from one nation to the opposite with out falling into the traps of smugglers and human traffickers. The pope praised international locations like Poland which have made concerted efforts to welcome and combine Ukrainians.
“Above all, I implore that the armed assaults stop and that negotiation — and customary sense — prevail. And that worldwide regulation be revered as soon as once more!” the pope stated.
RELATED: Amongst Russian Orthodox, glimmers of dissent towards the invasion of Ukraine
Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the pinnacle of the Greek Catholic Church within the Ukraine, which is loyal to Rome, praised the pope’s recognition of the battle. “At present Ukraine is standing. Ukraine is combating,” the archbishop stated from Kyiv, the place “vicious battles” are tearing by the suburbs.
Because the United Nations estimates that almost 1.5 million Ukrainians are fleeing their homeland, Shevchuk additionally underscored the necessity to safe secure passage for refugees who, regardless of the commitments of world nations and political leaders, are struggling to flee.
“At present we ask the world group: ‘Clear the sky over Ukraine!’” he stated.
RELATED: Putin’s declare to rid Ukraine of Nazis is particularly absurd given its historical past