Vatican envoy brings pope’s Easter message to east Ukraine

DONETSK, Ukraine: The Vatican envoy to Ukraine on Easter Sunday held services for the first time in the war-torn east since the separatist uprising began, bringing a message of support from Pope Francis.

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti was on a “mission of reconciliation” to the region which has been torn apart by almost two years of conflict between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo said.

The pontiff asked his envoy “to pass on a message that he is concerned and is praying and thinking how to help the people here,” the bishop of KharkivZaporizhia in eastern Ukraine, who accompanied Gugerotti, told AFP.

Gugerotti held midnight and morning masses in the de facto rebel capital of Donetsk, handing worshippers images of the Virgin Mary blessed by the pope.

The papal nuncio was on his first visit to the east of the former Soviet state since the insurgency erupted in April 2014 following the ouster of a pro-Russian regime in Kiev and Moscow’s subsequent annexation of Crimea.

Around 100 Catholics gathered for the Easter morning mass in Donetsk’s only Catholic church, named after Saint Joseph.

Sofiya, 16, said she had spent all night in the church to receive a blessing from the archbishop.

“In Donetsk because of the war there is a curfew (from 10pm) so I came yesterday to the church at 9pm, before it started, and spent all night here.”

“I believe that the prayers of Pope Francis will have an influence on the events in Donbass,” she said, referring to the industrial east of the country.

After his return to Kiev, Gugerotti will meet Pope Francis to brief him on the trip, Sobilo said.

“He saw that people are praying and waiting for peace and a resolution to the conflict.”

Ukraine is split between followers of Orthodox Churches as well as Protestants and Catholics. Most people in the east are Russian Orthodox. — AFP