Ukraine: People 'need God' after 1,000 days of war

Fr Lucas Perozzi celebrating Mass in Kyiv © ACN

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

A Brazilian missionary priest staying in Ukraine's capital despite the dangers has shared moving details of what life is like today in the war-torn country.

Father Lucas Perozzi has refused to return to his native Brazil, rather remaining in Kyiv to minister to the faithful who increasingly "need hope" after more than a thousand days of fighting.

Father Perozzi told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): "We go to sleep to the sound of sirens, and we wake up to the sound of sirens and bombings. The sirens sound non-stop. Psychologically, people are tired, very scared and without hope."

He added: "Then there is also the problem of the economic crisis. Things are increasingly expensive, it is a very difficult situation."

The priest said that people have gradually got used to the sound of air raid warnings and no longer seek safety in the bomb shelters - at great personal risk.

He explained: "You can't live like this. For the first six months we used to run to the bunkers, but not anymore. When our time comes, it will come. Only God knows the hour. It could be a missile or a heart attack."

He added: "God is the Lord of life. That's reality, and we have come to accept it."

Father Perozzi said that his "mission… to spread the Gospel… isn't easy".

He told ACN: "People need hope, they need God, the sacred", but it seems that "nothing consoles them anymore. They have given up searching. They have become apathetic, disillusioned."

He added that the Church in Ukraine has received much-needed support from ACN, including "help to hold summer camps for children, which is very important, because they are living in a state of constant alarm…

"In my parish we held a camp in the mountains, where there are no air raid sirens, no missiles, and they can rest, they can play, speak to each other, and we can provide pastoral care, such as Masses and catechesis."

ACN has also provided trauma counselling programmes to help people cope with the horrors of war.

Father Perozzi said: "We need to be qualified to be able to work with people who were on the frontline, with parents who lost their children, children who lost their parents… This is a new issue for us. But we do everything with gratitude - I am happy with my mission, and ready to carry it out."

He concluded: "As long as we are alive, we have the mission to proclaim the Gospel."

With thanks to Paulo Aido

LINK

Aid to the Church in Need: www.acnuk.org