Pope Francis drew attention to the “awful situation” developing in Ukraine and reissued his previous plea for prayers for the country’s “noble and martyred” citizens.
The pope claimed that his envoy had “told me of the suffering of these people, the brutality, the monstrosities, and the tortured corpses they find” there.
Pope Francis was delivering the information that he claimed to have obtained on September 20 by telephone from Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, whom the pope has despatched to Ukraine to bring comfort and humanitarian relief in his place.
The pope requested that attendees of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square pray for and stand in solidarity with “these people who are so noble and martyred.”
Cardinal Krajewski visited Odesa and the neighbouring areas during his fourth trip to Ukraine since the war started.
The cardinal claimed in an interview with Vatican News that he was only able to pray while he was beside a mass grave site in eastern Ukraine and witnessing the careful and solemn removal of dead.
After visiting the mass burial in the northern city of Izium, Cardinal Krajewski remarked, “I knew I would see so many dead, yet I encountered men who revealed the beauty that is often concealed in our souls.”
“They displayed a human beauty in a setting where only retaliation was possible. As opposed to that, there wasn’t, he told Vatican News.
After Ukraine launched a counteroffensive to retake captured territory, Russian forces left the area. Soldiers in the area of Izium discovered a mass grave site with the bones of 500 or more persons.
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that there was proof that some of the victims had been tortured.
Earlier this year, similar mass burial sites were discovered in other regions that had previously been controlled by Russian soldiers.
According to the Reuters news agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected Russia’s role in the atrocities and repeatedly claimed that mass grave sites were faked by Ukraine.
The cautious evacuation of the bodies from Izium seemed to be a solemn ritual, according to Cardinal Krajewski, who was accompanied by Ukrainian Bishop Pavlo Honcharuk of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia.
He admitted to Vatican News Service that “there was one thing that impacted me so profoundly.” “These young Ukrainians were removing the remains in complete silence while doing it delicately and discreetly. There were at least 200 police officers and soldiers present, yet there was no conversation despite the appearance of a celebration. All in silence, with a profound respect for the mystique of death. There was undoubtedly a lot to learn from these people.
“The bishop and I were walking around among them. I was reciting the Divine Mercy Chaplet the whole time; we were there for at least three hours. I couldn’t do anything else,” he said.
“This is what has stayed with me now that I’m back in Kharkiv. I am in the chapel and think about these young people,” he said.
Cardinal Krajewski claimed that while providing humanitarian aid to suffering Ukrainians on behalf of Pope Francis, he and many others came under gunshot. The interview with Vatican News was released on September 17.
When the attack took place, the Polish cardinal, a Catholic bishop, a Protestant bishop, and a Ukrainian soldier were delivering gifts in the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine.
“I didn’t know where to run for the first time in my life since running alone wasn’t enough. You must be aware of your surroundings, the cardinal advised.
The cardinal and those who were with him were able to flee the assault and carry on delivering goods that were loaded into a minivan.
