Ukraine: Bishop reports devastating destruction

Churches hold outdoor events - © ACN

Source: ACN

A bishop serving on Ukraine's front line says he sees "constant signs of hope" - despite the wholesale destruction of villages and churches as drones and missiles land.

Bishop Maksym Ryabukha of Donetsk told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): "The material destruction is devastating. Now they are razing houses, one by one, including rectories.

"In Kostantynivka the church was destroyed. Through images taken by drones we can see that only a fragment of the cross on the central dome is still intact. There is hardly a stone in place. It is very harsh."

The 46-year-old bishop said half of his exarchate - roughly equal to a diocese - is occupied by the Russian army, making nearly impossible for him and other priests to carry out their ministry.

He said: "The front line is constantly moving. We recover some territory, but other times it is the Russian forces who advance. Beyond the lines on the map, though, it is the war itself that has changed. One year ago, if you were around 20 kilometres from the front line you were pretty much safe. Today, given the massive use of drones and guided bombs, anywhere under 50 kilometres is extremely dangerous."

But the bishop added: "However great evil is, it will never destroy everything."

He said he can continue with his ministry by "being a bishop of prayer and accompaniment. I cannot stop the war, nor change the course of military history, but I can be close to people: in prayer, in dialogue and through my pastoral presence.

"Despite the tragedy, I can see clearly that God does not abandon us. There are constant signs of hope."

He said his priests are marked by a "heroic fidelity" - "If I tell them to evacuate, because of the danger, they reply: 'I was ordained for these people. If I go, who will conduct the funerals? Who will hear confessions or visit the sick?', and they stay."

The war has also brought conversions as people turn to God. He explained: "War does away with dramatics and appearances. There is no time to live according to other people's expectations.

"It makes you ask the final questions: What is the meaning of my life? What is the point of studying, or of working, if everything could end today? And this leads to God. We have seen many vocations in the midst of this suffering. Currently we have 19 seminarians. There is a real hunger for good and meaning."

This year they held 15 summer camps in safer parishes and had 60 participants in a training course for facilitators.

The bishop said: "They carry with them joy and peace, wherever they go. But it is not only the youth, it is the whole community. We also have a 'Mothers at Prayer' group, which meets weekly. Since there is lack of transport, because of the danger, the priests use their own cars to bring together up to 80 women in these diocesan gatherings…

"With each passing day we are one step closer to victory and to peace. When these will come exactly, we do not know, but we look forward to them with growing impatience."

He added that he was "profoundly grateful" to ACN benefactors.

"The good we are doing together is a source of great hope. I would tell them that it is worth believing and investing in humanity, even when it appears that we are living in an absurd world.

"Training a priest, supporting a young person or caring for a child is an investment in the future of an entire people. Thank you to all who continue to believe with us in the possibility of the impossible.

"Thank you to all those who recognise our dignity and our right to life."

LINK

Aid to the Church in Need: https://acnuk.org