Priest from Kherson described situation in city and conditions of pastoral ministry in wartime

Sunday, 06 March 2022, 21:03

Father Ignatius Moskalyuk, OSBM from Kherson said how life goes on today in the city and what are the possibilities of pastoral ministry of the UGCC.

See also:

Shameless theft at the state level, - His Beatitude Sviatoslav on Russia’s attempted annexation of four regions of Ukraine
We can imagine what the prayer of the prisoners in the Russian torture centers in the Ukrainian Kharkiv region was like – Head of the UGCC on the 206th day of the war
From the Head of the UGCC on the 204th day of the war: Even in the conditions of the horrors of war, we spread the culture of respect for God and His created world

According to the priest, today the pastoral ministry in Kherson is limited because during the last two days people were completely forbidden to leave their homes.

“Today, on March 4 and it is the first day you can go outside. Four people came to us for prayer, - says Fr. Ignatius. "People come to pray in the monastery chapel in between sirens, in quiet time."

“In Kherson we are completely cut off from communication, there is no Ukrainian television, only Russian propaganda is broadcast on Russian channels. Kyivstar and Vodafone mobile operators are also disconnected, radio is not even connected. We are completely isolated in terms of information”, the priest said.

In a week, he says, people have got used to sirens and don't flinch much, although, of course, anxiety takes over.

"However, the most disturbing thing is that we are completely cut off from the news and do not know what is happening in Ukraine. We do not know what the situation is”, he said.

Father Ignatius also said that two days ago, on March 2, there was loud shelling near the monastery. Several shells fell very close - at a distance of 200 meters from the monastery building. As a result of the shelling in the neighborhood where the monastery is located, two houses and a school were damaged.

“As for the spiritual life, in this anxious time we keep the church rule, we pray the rosary. I also practice the adoration of the Holy Sacraments for an hour,” adds the Basilian monk.

Notoriously, on March 1, Russian troops began bombarding Kherson. Trying to seize the city, the occupiers fired the residential areas.

The UGCC Department for Information