About  .  Contact  .  Donation Archaeologists in western Ukraine have uncovered two clay bull figurines dating back to the Early Iron Age near the Metropolitan Chambers in Krylos a historic village close to the city of Halych in the Ivano-Frankivsk region The figurines were unearthed during archaeological excavations conducted near a defensive rampart close to the Metropolitan Chambers Researchers from the Ancient Halych National Reserve in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University have been systematically studying the area which is a key site within the Ancient Halych National Reserve located about 3 miles south of modern Halych making it a focal point for understanding the region’s past Andrii Fihol, a junior researcher at the Archaeology Department of the Ancient Halych National Reserve, spoke to Ukrinform about the unexpected find: “We were working near the defensive rampart in the village of Krylos We expected to find fragments from the Princes’ period but instead came across a cultural layer from the Early Iron Age which testify to the agricultural cult of that time People created what they saw and used in their household activities.” which began in the 12th century BCE in Ukraine marked a transition in human history with the widespread use of iron for tools and weapons It is particularly associated with the Scythians and Sarmatians nomadic cultures known for their metallurgical advancements and agricultural practices the team also unearthed a wheel from a cart which Fihol described as possibly the only sculpture of its kind from this period These discoveries emphasize the importance of agriculture in the cultural and spiritual practices of the time preserving them for future study and public display The discovery adds to a long history of archaeological finds in Krylos a site that has been occupied for over 7,000 years Systematic research has uncovered evidence of numerous archaeological cultures dating back to 5500 BCE reflecting the region’s significance as a cultural and historical hub and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()) Learn how to describe the purpose of the image (opens in a new tab) Leave empty if the image is purely decorative Pope Francis on Thursday received in audience Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is in Rome for the Synod on Synodality where he is bringing the voice of the suffering Ukrainian people and of all Eastern Churches.  The papal audience took place on the eve of Pope Francis' meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on October 11 Speaking to Vatican News’ Salvatore Cernuzio on the sidelines of the assembly the Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyč described the meeting with the Pope “as a spiritual moment of dialogue and reflection.” "I wanted to inform the Holy Father about the situation in Ukraine the disaster of the war we are living through and the challenges we will face as winter approaches," he explained "He is truly concerned for the civilian population and for the most vulnerable who are the ones suffering the most." Major Archbishop Shevchuk also explained that he informed Pope Francis about the life of the Ukrainian Church in these circumstances and about the recent Synod of the Greek Catholic Bishops which focused on the theme of evangelization and on how to proclaim the Word of God and bring its message of hope to desperate people He said he handed him a Pastoral Letter on war and just peace,  summarizing fruits of the Synod and reflecting on the current situation in Ukraine "Pope Francis," the Archbishop Major continued “thanked me for the heroic service of our Church and priests and assured me of his prayers and blessings." the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church reiterated his gratitude to Pope Francis "for his many interventions and for always remembering 'martyred' Ukraine.” He also thanked him for mediating the release of ten Ukrainian civilians including the Redemptorist priests Ivan Haleta and Bohdan Levytskyy arrested by the Russians in November 2022 Their release was part of an exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war mediated by the Holy See to thank the Holy See for "the efforts" made "to bring these people home." Commenting on Pope Francis’ audience with the Ukrainian President on Friday Archbishop Shevchuk said President Zelensky has a great respect for the Holy Father whom he conders to be a “global moral voice and authority." "Sharing Ukraine's pains and having the support of the Pope and the Holy See for our country and our suffering people is vital for us,” he said This will be President Zelensky’s third visit to the Vatican and his fourth in-person meeting with Pope Francis which includes the private bilateral meeting held in June on the sidelines of the G7 in Puglia  Before returning to the Synod’s discussions Major Archbishop Shevchuk launched  an impassioned appeal to the international community to support the Ukrainian people with prayer and material aid "We ask for your solidarity and prayers Nearly 6 million Ukrainians will face a food crisis this winter adding that "we must also offer our warmth and attention to people who will suffer cold.”  Thank you for reading our article. 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Just click here Ukraine - 23 February 2024) – A new nature reserve is being established in Western Ukraine to provide a safe refuge for rescued wildlife.   Kasova Hora is the largest meadow-steppe area in Central Europe and its vegetation cover is unique for the region It stretches out over more than 130 hectares in Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk region 71 of which belongs to a local community.   The community-owned area was at risk of wildfires because of significant shrub over-growth and large amounts of dry grass after hot summers and snowless winters local environmental group Eco-Halych worked with IFAW to set up a wildlife rehabilitation and release area across part of the 71 hectares.   Not only will rescued animals have a safe space to rehabilitate and become wild again but they will also help to recreate and preserve the unique meadow-steppe ecosystems of the area through controlled grazing.  overgrown with shrubs and had numerous alien species various types of deer and other herbivores we can ensure moderate and controlled grazing,” says Volodymyr Buchko we will be able to protect and preserve the important biodiversity in this area.”   The community land is under consideration to become a protected nature reserve after IFAW Eco-Halych and a group of Ukrainian scientists made the request The status is anticipated to be granted by local government in the coming months.    The intention will then be to rehabilitate and release wild animals in a fenced off area within the new nature reserve Several animals rescued from the war or from inappropriate living conditions have already been released into the reserve including one Przewalski's horse several roe deer and a mouflon – a wild sheep species.   “These animals initially lacked the skills to survive in the wild we’ve been able to slowly rehabilitate them they were placed in temporary enclosures where they received food and care and were able to socialise with other animals,” explains Natalia Gozak wildlife rescue officer Ukraine at IFAW.   “Now they have graduated into their new habitat a plot of 23 hectares of fenced meadows in Kasova Hora we should see their natural wild instincts start to flourish so they can truly live as the wild animals that they are Seeing rewilding in action is always exciting.”  This part of Western Ukraine has remained largely sheltered from the impact of the on-going war That doesn’t mean that conflict is non-existent but to date it remains much safer than places closer to the Russian border.  photo/video material or to arrange interviews with IFAW or Eco-Halych Annelyn Close +31 6 3900 8295 aclose@ifaw.org   Related contentRescuing animals during disasters – Europe How IFAW has helped animals and people during the Ukraine crisis Two wolves rescued from Ukraine arrive safely in Greece How I helped save lions from war in Ukraine every problem has a solution, every solution needs support. The problems we face are urgent, complicated, and resistant to change. Real solutions demand creativity, hard work, and involvement from people like you. 55+ years of helping animals, people, and the place we call home. the browser you use is outdated and does not allow you to display the site correctly This video has been blocked because your cookie settings do not allow targeting cookies To watch this video, open your cookie settings and opt in to targeting cookies Cette vidéo a été bloquée parce que vos paramètres de cookies n'autorisent pas les cookies pour une publicité ciblée Pour regarder cette vidéo, ouvrez vos paramètres de cookies et acceptez les cookies pour une publicité ciblée Deze video is geblokkeerd omdat de doelgroepgerichte cookies zijn geweigerd Open je cookie-instellingenen schakel doelgroepgerichte cookies in om deze video te bekijken weil Ihre Cookie-Einstellungen Cookies für Marketingzwecke nicht zulassen Um dieses Video anzusehen, öffnen Sie Ihre Cookie-Einstellungen und lassen Sie Cookies für Marketingzwecke zu POZNAŃ, Poland (OSV News) — For Ukrainian Catholics, St. John Paul II’s voice brought a “taste of freedom,” something that still drives defenders of the country following the full-scale Russian invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church “Pope John Paul II was our voice,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said For nations like Ukraine that after the fall of the Berlin Wall started to regain independence from the bloody communist regime in Moscow “he was the voice of those whose voice had been taken away.” “And this is exactly what we felt in Ukraine and beyond … He became the voice not only of our conscience He really is the pope of Ukraine’s sovereignty The historic event of pope John Paul II’s meeting with Gorbachev in December ’89 gave rise to the legalization of our church in Ukraine,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said Mikhail Gorbachev was general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was the first Soviet leader to meet the pope who contributed to the fall of communism in his native Poland six months earlier.  the pope hosted Gorbachev at the Vatican in what was described by the papal personal secretary open and sincere” meeting in the book by German Vatican correspondent Joachim Jauer titled “Urbi et Gorbi.”  The pope was preparing for the meeting by refreshing his knowledge of Russian “Every day he read the Russian translation of the Bible,” Jauer wrote in his book as “Gorbachev wanted to talk to the pope without witnesses.” During the meeting “the Soviet secretary general was said to make a personal statement about his attitude to Christianity.” The pope’s “intercession in those days for the rights of the church in the Soviet Union gave us freedom literally,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk told OSV News when it was decided that the Greek Catholics would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church in Soviet-ruled Ukraine “No one knew whether the Soviet Union would continue for a long time But John Paul II was truly the pope of freedom and sovereignty for Ukraine and our church,” the leader of Ukrainian Catholics told OSV News The second milestone in John Paul’s support for the freedom cause of Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed and was officially dissolved in December 1991 was the June 2001 pilgrimage of John Paul to Ukraine It happened at the time when Ukraine’s economy had struggled significantly and both social and political reforms failed to fully transform the country into a European-style state The pope’s “pilgrimage to Ukraine in 2001 was a pilgrimage that affirmed the independence of our country and added to our subjectivity,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said Ukraine was celebrating the 10th anniversary of independence but politically and internationally it was a member of this alliance of the Independent States It was an attempt to reconstruct the Soviet Union under new circumstances But the pope spoke from Ukraine and about Ukraine to the whole world as a free he spoke to us in Ukrainian!” the prelate said to hear the pope addressing our people in the language of this nation for the first time in history was something truly unprecedented unprecedented,” the Ukrainian church leader emphasized “The internal situation in Ukraine was really not simple at that time President (Leonid) Kuchma and the Ukrainian government were using the Russian language which was — according to the constitution — the state language The pope spoke Ukrainian to the Ukrainian president and it was a better Ukrainian language.” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said that John Paul helped build the “subjectivity” of the struggling nation.  “The pope spoke to cultural activists about the value of Ukrainian culture … science,” he said education and science were instruments of communist ideology.” Major Archbishop Shevchuk recalled that John Paul specifically wanted to meet young people when in Ukraine June 23-27 He wanted to tell them “that freedom is also a challenge freedom can be even more challenging than slavery because it needs your personal effort to develop it not to give it away to anyone,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said “He said to the youth: in your hands is the future of your country Do not give this responsibility to politicians,” the prelate said Those words “perhaps in a sense provoked that these young Ukrainians to defend their state” — first during the so-called Orange Revolution in 2004 The protests of late 2004 initially succeeded in preventing Kremlin-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych from stealing the Ukrainian presidency and made possible the election of his reformist rival, Viktor Yushchenko, but the latter was unable to lead Ukraine fully to the member state of European Union, the Atlantic Council wrote.  But it was John Paul who gave Ukrainians the boost that they could decide for themselves The visit in 2001 was not only “some good words teaching an intellectual message,” but a real  “taste of freedom,” Archbishop Shevchuk said “To the extent that one old grandmother told me if the pope comes to Ukraine “This taste of freedom is something that makes a revolution real in the life of a person these young people who are defending Ukraine today will not give up to anyone,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk told OSV News Some of our soldiers who were prisoners of war and returned from captivity with their hands tied and their eyes covered they were at a higher degree of freedom than those who were torturing them.” Russian soldiers and it made them so angry,” because they saw “Ukrainians are free.” “This is the testimony of these boys who may no longer personally remember John Paul II But their spirit is the spirit of dignity that he discovered in us post-communist country,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said Neither Moscow nor the United States knows what to do with those Ukrainians who live this spirit Major Archbishop Shevchuk said he “had just arrived in Rome when John Paul II was being brought from the Apostolic Palace to (St I saw those crowds of people who stood for hours with their families to come and pay their last respect to John Paul II when all of Rome stopped,” he told OSV News.  “They all felt that the greatest humanist of the 20th century had passed away to eternity.” Paulina Guzik is international editor for OSV News The devastating impact that infectious diseases can have on the global population was well demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic but research suggests that factors such as climate change may be increasing the risk of such events occurring in the future currently based at Umeå University in Sweden and colleagues assessed potential drivers of infectious diseases in Europe They broke down these factors into three groups: globalization and environment Globalization and environment was by far the biggest contributor at 61% versus 21% and 18% for the other two groups Semenza was head of the health determinants program at the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control at the time and carried out more work with colleagues to investigate and verify this finding ‘What are the underlying drivers of emerging infectious diseases And then what leads to these infectious disease outbreaks?’” he told Inside Precision Medicine “The experts underestimated the contribution of global environment change and climate change specifically on the emergence of infectious diseases in Europe,” he noted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than 60% of human infectious diseases can be spread from animals and 75% of new or emerging infectious diseases come from animals Predictions suggest at least 10,000 viral species circulating in wild animal populations have the potential to infect humans A paper published in 2022 predicts that changes in climate and land use could lead to around 4,000 cases of cross-species transmission of such viruses by 2070 One way this can happen is when humans and animals use the same land and so-called “spillover events” happen as a result patterns of animal and bird migrations change and populations of insects such as mosquitoes and ticks move into new areas such as Northern Europe and North America the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has now become established in Europe and is moving further north each year It just continued being winter active,” explained Joacim Rocklöv a guest professor at Umeå University and an Alexander von Humboldt professor at Heidelberg University His work focuses on infectious disease epidemiology and climate change “That means you can actually probably have transmission there all year round now.” The combination of climate and environmental change to disease spread is concerning along with measures to reduce climate change technologies such as genomic pathogen surveillance and innovative disease control measures like the World Mosquito Program’s Wolbachia method—essentially infecting mosquitos like Aedes aegypti (another dengue fever vector) with a bacteria called Wolbachia that stops them from spreading disease—can help to minimize these potential threats The impact of human activity on the environment influences the spread of infectious diseases in several ways a professor at the Galvin Life Science Center at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and his team published a paper to assess the impact of these factors across a number of studies looking at infectious diseases in humans Rohr and team found that loss of biodiversity and invasive species all increased the damage that could be done by emerging infectious diseases but urbanization seemed to reduce the risk from disease climate warming seemed to increase infectious disease risk to a similar extent in both humans and wildlife “Even though humans tend to try to control disease in humans more than they would in wildlife we still saw really strong patterns for human diseases whether those diseases were in wildlife or actually manifesting in humans,” said Rohr more parasite resistant species tend to be lost first “The more of those rare species that you lose the greater the proportion of the community is the abundant species that the parasite is really good at infecting,” explained Rohr you end up losing the ones that are most resistant to the parasites and you get more of those hosts that are least resistant because if 75% of the diseases are zoonotic and have a wildlife source Chemical pollution can also have a negative impact Some chemicals make both humans and wildlife more susceptible to infection through immunosuppression Others may influence the intermediate host of a parasite such as the freshwater snails which harbor the worms that cause schistosomiasis in countries such as Senegal “We’ve shown that the submerged aquatic vegetation that serves as a habitat for the snails is increasing due to fertilizer use,” said Rohr who has worked on a number of village trials in Senegal to try and tackle the persistent parasite you actually can reduce schistosomiasis infections.” Workers clearing submerged aquatic vegetation linked to schistosomiasis in Senegal [Jason Rohr]Climate change appears to be a big driver of infectious disease a professor at the University of Hawaii in the department of geography and environment and colleagues published a study in 2022 that showed that 58% of infectious diseases have already been made worse by climate disruption or change “A lot of people say that we are exaggerating these things because these are things that might happen in the future but these are things that already happened,” explained Mora All the cases in which Mora and colleagues discovered a negative influence of climate were clustered into one of four categories: the pathogen moved “One possibility is for the pathogen to overlap where people are located … for example wildfires are causing bats to migrate and they find shelter around people’s houses There was a case in which an infected bat landed on a tree in the garden of a house “We also found some very interesting reports on how people can get stressed out during a flood or a hurricane or a heat wave These changes in cortisol affect the immune system such that you become more prone to be infected or more vulnerable to disease.” Climate change is making Europe and the U.S vulnerable to infectious diseases that were previously not found in these regions a single stranded RNA virus carried by birds and transmitted by mosquitos to both humans and horses Only around 20% of those infected have symptoms but these can be serious or even life-threatening in some people at times causing neurological symptoms and encephalitis The number of infections seems to be increasing in Europe with 2018 and 2022 having particularly high numbers of reported infections Semenza has been studying West Nile virus with Rocklöv and other colleagues and used machine learning to assess the many variables that could be contributing to outbreaks of the disease there was this massive outbreak of West Nile And we were puzzled why the epidemic started so early and why it was such a huge outbreak,” he explained “By having a machine learning or artificial intelligence algorithm we were able to identify the underlying drivers We were surprised that the most important variables were in fact temperature in the second quarter This means that you can use that as an early warning system because we know that if the spring gets really warm then you will see a fall season with a lot of cases.” Tick borne diseases are also spreading across Europe and the U.S A particularly concerning example in Europe is Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever Spread largely by ticks in the genus Hyalomma this disease has symptoms similar to those of Ebola and can have a 50% fatality rate marginatum ticks are typically found in warmer places such as North Africa and West Asia and in more recent years and have even been seen in Germany and Switzerland Statistical models that account for predicted changes in climate suggest that H marginatum will continue to move north in the coming years The map shows the current known distribution of Hyalomma marginatum in Europe at ‘regional’ administrativelevel [EuroGeographics]The map shows the current known distribution of Aedes albopictus in Europe at ‘regional’ administrative level as of May 2024 [EuroGeographics]“It is traveling from the south further into Europe,” said Rocklöv but of course when the ticks get established then there will be potential cases of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever.” Fungal diseases are also adapting to climatic conditions is a professor of medicine at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento “Candida auris is really thought to be the poster child for that emergence and adaptation to the warming environment It was first described in an ear culture in Japan in 2009 It’s moved from a local infection to now causing invasive infections,” he explained Another example is a fungi called Sporothrix which typically lives in the environment and on plants such as roses it’s adapted and is now highly associated with cats which clearly are warmer than the environment,” said Thompson “We think that particular species has evolved pretty quickly to the warming environment.” Fighting infectious diseases is hard at the best of times but adding environmental factors such as global warming makes a difficult task even more complicated researchers and companies are working on methods to help drive back the spread of such diseases Early prediction systems such as the machine learning algorithm developed by Semenza and colleagues for West Nile virus are helpful because they allow local health authorities to prepare for new outbreaks Rohr and colleagues are using data from the Analytics for Investigation of Disease Outbreaks tool to create mathematical models that predict new outbreaks of specific diseases “We’re looking at the statistical properties of these time series to determine whether we could have detected the outbreak before it occurred and what the response window is,” Rohr explained “Our response window across all these diseases so far is over three weeks which is enough time to respond and potentially mitigate or prevent the infections.” genomic pathogen surveillance was widely used to track the spread of the virus and search for new variants Some countries had much better access to this technology than others but Semenza says this is something the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is trying to change “The ECDC has made quite an effort trying to provide grants to member states to increase their sequencing capacity and to increase their output and analysis to equilibrate the field and try to bring these countries up to speed,” he said Wastewater surveillance has been carried out for some time to monitor potential outbreaks But this has also increased since the pandemic different COVID-19 strains and other diseases to try to see if there’s community transmission you can look at wastewater and see what kind of transmission you would expect,” said Semenza “Those are the new technologies that are definitely changing public health and public health surveillance as we know it.” Rocklöv and colleagues are currently exploring different types of “smart” surveillance including automated mosquito traps and are also collecting bioacoustics recordings from birds to try and better track the movements of wild species which could run for six months and give you very good data on mosquitoes,” he explained He added that they are developing a new project where people can submit pictures of ticks they’ve observed “We will classify them using AI-based visual learning to assess what type of tick species they are.” Many different methods have been tried to target vector species such as mosquitoes ranging from simple insecticides to molecular solutions such as gene drives The World Mosquito Program’s Wolbachia method is a less controversial but effective method of non-insecticide-based mosquito control “It uses a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia that lives in most insects on the planet but not in a lot of mosquitoes They engineered that bacteria to live in Aedes mosquitoes the vector that spreads things like dengue and chikungunya … when Wolbachia lives in these mosquitoes they are much less likely to spread these viruses,” explained Nathan Tanner an associate director of research at New England Biolabs which produces enzyme-based reagents and tests for use in life science research New England Biolabs has worked with the World Mosquito Program to help them create simple tests that can detect whether mosquitos are infected with Wolbachia pipientis or not using loop‑mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) LAMP tests fall somewhere between antigen tests and PCR tests in that they are more accurate than antigen tests but easier and cheaper to carry out than PCR tests because they do not require specific machinery or expertise They only call for a simple heating step that can be achieved using hot water Such easy-to-use and affordable tests are important for the management of infectious diseases where public health resources can be limited LAMP tests are being used to assess whether people in Africa are infected with Onchocerca volvulus and/or Loa loa both nematode worms that can cause blindness It is important to assess whether people have both infections as treatment with the antiparasitic drug ivermectin can cause serious side effects in people infected with both parasites “You have to know which pathogens are present in the population to know what drug to use and the only way to know that is through testing The last 10 years have included nine of the hottest on record and extreme weather events such as droughts The combination of such environmental changes with the increasing spread of dangerous infectious diseases could be devastating in the future and indeed are already causing problems in many places Infectious diseases have historically disproportionately affected the Global South but increasing temperatures in the Global North mean that clinicians and researchers based in these areas and elsewhere need to stay informed about new diseases “Global environment change is so complicated and climate change in particular because it basically preys on infrastructure vulnerabilities aging infrastructure is such a problem in combination with climate change,” said Semenza “Trying to come up with resilient public health infrastructure is definitely something that we need to look carefully at.” Rocklöv believes things are changing for the better “There is much more funding and more publications in this area,” he emphasized “I think the interest overall has increased and you see it more and more often in high impact journals.” Mora believes the best way to deal with the issue of infectious diseases and climate change is to go direct to the source there is just one single thing that will fix them all And that is for us to start taking this issue of climate change more seriously.” While there is a lot to be said for the direct approach Rohr and his team are developing truly integrated approaches to deal with both infectious diseases and climate change issues They recently won the 2024 International Frontiers Prize for innovative public health and sustainability research in recognition of this effort they first attempted to stop disease spread by removing submerged vegetation that is a key habitat for water snails that spread Schistosoma parasites in villages in Senegal They also used the aquatic vegetation to create animal feed and even fuel (in combination with animal dung) for biodigesters to produce cooking gas “The value of the biodigesters is that by encouraging these communities to take the vegetation and couple it with cow manure we will reduce methane gas emissions from cow manure … On top of that it reduces deforestation because 80% of the cooking fuel in Senegal is wood,” emphasized Rohr “This is something that can be implemented by these communities that are marginalized and resource-poor They can come and grab the vegetation and convert it from a public nuisance that’s increasing disease to a private good.” truly integrative projects like this one that simultaneously tackle infectious disease risks and other environmental issues could help solve what is undoubtedly a complicated global problem 1. Observed and projected drivers of emerging infectious diseases in Europe 2. One Health – About Zoonotic Diseases 3. Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk 4. Aedes albopictus – current known distribution: May 2024 5. A meta-analysis on global change drivers and the risk of infectious disease 6. Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change 7. West Nile virus on the rise in Europe, finds authority 8. West Nile virus keeps on moving up in Europe 9. European projections of West Nile virus transmission under climate change scenarios 10. Hyalomma marginatum – current known distribution: August 2023 11. Predicting climate-driven distribution shifts in Hyalomma marginatum 12. Infectious Diseases in a Changing Climate 13. First report of Candida auris in America: Clinical and microbiological aspects of 18 episodes of candidemia 14. Candida auris emergence as a consequence of climate change: Impacts on Americas and the need to contain greenhouse gas emissions 15. Impact of climate change and natural disasters on fungal infections 16. Analytics for Investigation of Disease Outbreaks: Web-Based Analytics Facilitating Situational Awareness in Unfolding Disease Outbreaks 17. Analytics for Investigation of Disease Outbreaks 18. Gene Drives Could Fight Malaria and Other Global Killers but Might Have Unintended Consequences 19. Detecting wMel Wolbachia in field-collected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) 20. Jason Rohr wins 2024 International Frontiers Prize for innovative public health and sustainability research 21. A planetary health innovation for disease, food and water challenges in Africa Helen Albert is senior editor at Inside Precision Medicine and a freelance science journalist digital publication based in Berlin focusing on the European biotech industry she worked at a range of different science and health-focused publications in London She was editor of The Biochemist magazine and blog but also worked as a senior reporter at Springer Nature’s medwireNews for a number of years as well as freelancing for various international publications Helen has academic degrees in genetics and anthropology and also spent some time early in her career working at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge before deciding to move into journalism ROME (CNS)—With the first anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine just days away the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke about gratitude and powerlessness in the face of a “blind spoke with a small group of reporters in Rome by Zoom Feb a city he has left only a couple of times and only for a few days in the past year Like many Ukrainians who refuse to leave or have returned even to heavily damaged homes “I have a psychological difficulty in abandoning Kyiv Everyone asks me to come for this conference or that visit but I can’t leave Kyiv for more than a week I am afraid something will happen” if he does leave gives us hope that the sentence will not be carried out and that we are able to survive defend ourselves and build a free and democratic country.” all the embassies in Kyiv—except for those of the Vatican and Poland—moved operations to western Ukraine or to Poland they’ve all returned and now the president of the United States has come.” Archbishop Shevchuk said he obviously could not comment on the political or military importance of the visit of Biden or other world leaders but “speaking in the name of common citizens we feel like we have not been forgotten and abandoned.” “It’s a great consolation that you have not abandoned us,” he said monks and nuns who have seen Christ present in those people wounded by the war We truly have met the living Christ in those who are hungry A year after Russia started its all-out attack on Ukraine Archbishop Shevchuk said he felt “joy and gratitude” that Ukraine is still there that the Ukrainian church has found myriad ways to support the people and that Catholics around the globe have shown their solidarity he also has experienced a great sense of impotence I’ve seen how modern weapons are able to destroy everything: life “And in the face of this use of blind violence the whole world has shown itself to be impotent.” Tens of thousands of people have turned to the church for material and spiritual help “They trust us completely; they have placed their lives completely in the hands of the church give me the faith to entrust myself to you like these people are entrusting themselves to their pastors.’” “They are becoming demoralized because almost every day they must celebrate the funerals of new victims A year of war and death is taking its toll on everyone Asked about victims of the war among the clergy Archbishop Shevchuk again demanded the release of two Eastern-rite Redemptorist priests—Father Ivan Levitsky and Father Bohdan Geleta—who were detained by Russian troops in the occupied city of Berdyansk in November “For 100 days they have endured daily torture,” he said no form of diplomacy or dialogue has been able to end the suffering of these two.” The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religions has identified about 500 churches temples and mosques that have been destroyed or heavily damaged in the fighting Joseph Sister Darija Panast were injured by Russian artillery fire while delivering aid in late January a small community of Incarnate Word priests are still in a Russian-occupied town—the archbishop would not say which for their safety—where they live “clandestinely Most of those are in eastern Ukraine where there were not many Catholics The Ukrainian Catholic cathedral in Donetsk “is damaged although there are no priests left,” so no services are held inside Another 16 churches belonging to Eastern-rite Catholics have been damaged or destroyed The entire population has been traumatized by the repeated piercing sound of air-raid sirens and the daily barrage of missiles exploding “We are not ashamed of these wounds of Christ that we see each day on the body of our people Password reset instructions will be sent to your registered email address As a frequent reader of our website, you know how important America’s voice is in the conversation about the church and the world. 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Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions Ukraine’s Catholic military chaplains will eventually be “catalysts for the rebuilding” of their war-torn nation whose three days in Ukraine included at times sheltering with Ukrainians as Russian missiles relentlessly rained down on civilian centers “They will continue to help those who fought in the war return to civilian life,” said Archbishop Timothy P who also serves as head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services The archbishop visited the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Kyiv Dec meeting with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych and a number of leaders in Ukraine’s military chaplaincy coordinator of chaplains for the Ukrainian Catholic Church The trip was a part of Archbishop Broglio’s annual Christmas pastoral visit to U.S which usually takes him to installations in the Middle East military personnel currently stationed in Poland alone Archbishop Broglio told OSV News he chose to head to that country as well as to Latvia “When the bishops elected me their president (in November 2022) the visit (to Ukraine) was made even more pressing,” he said The decision was also inspired by his conversations with Archbishop Borys Gudziak head of the Ukrainian Catholic archeparchy of Philadelphia who has steadfastly advocated on behalf of Ukraine since Russia first invaded Crimea in 2014 tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed with some 12.8 million now displaced across Europe and internally Ukraine’s National Information Bureau reports some 11,130 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia Prosecutors in Ukraine are investigating at least 50,000 war crimes committed by Russian forces since February and the nation has filed an application with the International Court of Justice to charge Russia with committing genocide Archbishop Broglio toured the campus of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv which was among 50 organizations awarded last month by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for volunteer efforts that have provided both soldiers and civilians with urgently needed aid A number of UCU alumni have been killed in action since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 — including 27-year-old fashion industry professional Artemiy Dymyd son of a UCU professor and a noted iconographer The university has established a scholarship in his honor Archbishop Broglio prayed “for peace those who gave their lives for freedom,” and encouraged students to “study diligently so that they can build a country that will serve the people who live on this earth.” Amid Russia’s ongoing strikes on civilian targets the archbishop told OSV News he also found himself taking refuge in UCU’s bomb shelters “a couple of times.” He said he marveled at the resiliency of those in the shelters with “professors giving exams to students and others praying in the underground chapels” as air raid sirens sounded Archbishop Broglio told OSV News he “wasn’t really frightened” despite “a few thoughts,” preferring instead to “take the necessary precautions and trust in the Lord.” the archbishop met with Ukrainian military chaplains — some of whom had just returned from the front lines — at Lviv’s Garrison Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul bombed during World War II and used as a book depository under communism was transferred to the Ukrainian Catholic Lviv Archeparchy in 2010 and now serves as the main church of the military chaplaincy Archbishop Broglio shared with the chaplains highlights of his visit to a hospital in Latvia where he met several young Ukrainian soldiers undergoing rehabilitation “You and I must continue our work as ministers of the Church who are called to support these people,” he told the chaplains “We must be with those men and women who serve on the front line Archbishop Broglio concelebrated with Lviv Archeparchy Auxiliary Bishop Volodymyr Grutsa a funeral for three Ukrainian soldiers — Serhiy Fedorov Roman Lehkyi and Borys Yakovlev — who had recently been killed in action He extended condolences “on behalf of all Catholics in the United States of America,” adding “We are sincerely grateful to the defenders for the sacrifice they make for their country Archbishop Broglio also spent time with Ukraine’s prime minister discussing the key role chaplains will play in helping veterans and their families — as well as the nation itself — to heal “(Shmyhal) made the point that when this is over psychologists and psychiatrists,” the archbishop told OSV News noting that military chaplains will be able expand that support by ministering to the spiritual scars caused by the war given the often hidden anguish veterans can experience long after hostilities have ceased Military chaplains provide a unique sense of empathy and attention adding that the simple act of “just listening” to soldiers’ stories proves to be “extremely therapeutic.” “I remember a priest who did a lot of work with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) victims,” the archbishop told OSV News ‘This is the first time in my life someone listened without interrupting.'” Church teaching also provides a vital framework for processing the moral pain incurred by war While stating that “all citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the end of war,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church also articulates a “legitimate defense by military force” under “strict conditions” (Nos “I certainly think the just war theory of the Catholic Church is helpful” to Ukrainian soldiers responding to unjust aggression and only using the force necessary (that force) has only been used on their own territory which they’re trying to reclaim (from invading Russian forces).” The archbishop told OSV News he hopes Ukraine’s military chaplains will “have a role in advising the commanders and political leaders” in their nation’s “reconstruction and rebuilding.” Archbishop Broglio said he has been wearing a bracelet given to him by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy “Unbroken,” represents the city’s initiative to provide medical aid — including reconstructive surgery and robotic prosthetics — to thousands of Ukrainians injured in the war “It reminds me to pray for the people of Ukraine,” said the archbishop Gina Christian is a national reporter for OSV News  Print Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media Catholic Media Assocation Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association The Associated Church Press This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page “We prayerfully ask the Lord for peace for our people that this war ends as soon as possible; we ask Him to protect us from suffering and death But we must be aware that He is ready to give us more than we ask In a wide-ranging interview with Vatican media the Archbishop Major of Kyiv-Halych Sviatoslav Shevchuk describes the longing for peace of the Ukrainian people as the country marks the second anniversary of the full-scale war waged by Russia against the country on 24 February as every day “is accompanied by the sound of sirens and explosions” that have devastated the country in the past two years many people in Ukraine wake up almost daily to the sound of sirens and explosions The thoughts of many go to their loved ones who are at the front or in very dangerous places What are your first thoughts and prayers when you wake up Archbishop Shevchuk My first prayer in the morning when I wake up is a prayer of thanksgiving because when you wake up alive you already have a good reason to thank the Lord the gift of life that you must transform into the gift of yourself to God I have found the sense of this prayer of thanksgiving in these words of the Prophet Isaiah: ‘Then you shall call and gives meaning to the other prayers because it is a word of hope: it says that the Lord is more ready to give than we are to ask we ask that this war ends as soon as possible we ask the Lord to protect us from suffering But before beginning this prayer with our requests it is important to be aware that the Lord is more ready to give than we are to ask produces hatred and creates serious social problems How does the Church seek to address all this Archbishop Shevchuk I must say that in these two years of full-scale invasion – but in fact  the war has been going on for ten years – our Church has developed a particular type of pastoral care that I call a ‘pastoral care of mourning’ because we must accompany the people who cry who grieve the loss  their loved ones It is a challenge because it is very easy to be pastors of happy people  Perhaps today Western culture needs what we would call a 'pastoral care of pleasure' that is a pastoral care for the consumerist world The Holy Father often says that this pastoral care means warning the modern man against this culture of waste that seeks ever more intense pleasure with less responsibility we are faced with a completely different challenge: we live the tragedy of the destruction of our country we still don’t know when all this is going to end we are faced with a situation of deep suffering of our people and we often we feel powerless Sometimes priority is given to being present rather than doing something: being there with the people who cry trying to show that the Lord is with us Finding appropriate words for a mother who is mourning the death of her son finding words  to say to young person who has lost his legs and does not know how to live or a child who has seen his mother's death What can you say to this poor child who doesn’t know how to relate with other people but also with himself This pastoral care of mourning is a challenge because we see that the Christian faith calls us to bring the hope of Resurrection in the midst of people grieving their losses and how we proclaim the Gospel in this great tragedy of the war in Ukraine I also wanted to ask where do you find the strength - you personally the consecrated people - to accompany the people in this dark period Archbishop Shevchuk I must confess sincerely that it is a mystery Only when you look back at the past two years war you can  understand where you have  found your strength Perhaps it is the same presence of God that Moses experienced in the Sinai when the Lord said to him: “You cannot see my face We can recognize this presence that inspires us that rekindles our strength only by looking at the back of the Lord who passes by I must say that there are specific moments when we  feel bucked up: that is prayer and the Sacraments of the Church Today we can reaffirm  what Christians said in the  early centuries: 'Sine dominico non possumus' Then there is also frequent confession: there is a great rediscovery of the Sacrament of Reconciliation that heals our spiritual wounds Because we live in constant danger of dying at any moment I don’t know whether I will still be alive in an hours’ time: this is our reality we must always be ready to die and to present ourselves before the Lord Then there is also a third moment in our activity: obviously but it is important to transform this energy of fear into action Many people have said that after every missile attack they notice an increase in their activity This energy that bursts inside you when you hear the roar of explosions and the shaking of your home must be transformed into actions of solidarity transforming your pain into solidarity with those who cry transforming your grieving into Christian charity This transformation from 'being' to 'acting' Perhaps these three realities can be seen  as the secret of our resilience the secret of the Christian hope of the Ukrainian people today the Ukrainian people continue to hope even though they have every reason to despair Archbishop Shevchuk I must say that we are wounded Every day we experience the death of our Lord Jesus Christ in our flesh to live His Resurrection The people who believe in the Eternal Life the people who believe in the Risen Christ And I must say that hope is not an empty feeling The sense of Christian hope is the life of the Risen One: we will certainly rise again We already carry this hope in our life today but it will be fully revealed only in the future life Christian hope is a virtue that involves the will we often hear the Latin phrase "Contra spem spero" (I hope against all hope) which has also become the title of a poem by the famous Ukrainian poet Lesja Ukrainka (1871-1913): we have a Christian hope against human despair the Christian eye can see in these conditions a light of faith that perhaps non-believers cannot perceive During its meeting early in February the Synod of the Greek-Catholic bishops in Ukraine focused the pastoral care of the family What are the main challenges in this area and what are you trying to do as a Church which we have agreed upon at the Synodal level can be summarized in the perspective of healing the wounds of the people One of the priorities of this pastoral care is the pastoral care of families experiencing grieving It is important to understand how to accompany the family and we have conducted an in-depth analysis of the situation of Ukrainian family life we understood that the majority of Ukrainian families This means that these families live without the daily presence of a father Then we have massive emigration: it is estimated that 14 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes The vast majority moved within the country especially from the eastern regions to the central and western parts others have continued to stay in other countries This means that these families are separated because men cannot leave Ukraine of Ukrainian war refugees in Europe are young women with their children more than 170,000 marriages were registered in Ukraine the lowest number in the history of Ukraine since its  independence In the past there were up to 600,000 new marriages a year But there other data  that really concerned  us was that in addition to low number of  marriages In the face of the current difficuklt situation the Ukrainian State now proposes marriage registrations in one day meaning that people can apply online and their civil union will be registered with the government in one day this seems to facilitate the registration of civil marriage it means that the next day you can get divorced without deep involvement and responsibility There is also another situation that makes us reflect the major challenges were represented by two types of families: dysfunctional families and which the Church had to accompany to strengthen their family bond and the husband remained at home with the children that is how to reintegrate these people into Ukrainian society But now we have four new challenges for family pastoral care a young wife who has lost her husband and doesn't know how to explain to her children when their father will come back These young widows in Ukraine today are called "black tulips" It is truly a tragedy and we must accompany these families The other tragedy is that of the families of those who have been seriously injured in war And the family bears the full weight of caring for and providing social and medical assistance to the injured Often these families are abandoned by the State which cannot offer adequate social assistance These seriously injured people who need specific medical care often don't even have enough food It is estimated that among these 200,000 injured and they need rehabilitation and specific care Accompanying these people means not only healing the body: they need psychological counseling but this does not work without spiritual accompaniment And how can you offer spiritual accompaniment to a 23-year-old woman who has lost her arms Then we have other families who have received the news that a relative of theirs is missing on the front and there is no news of him You can’t imagine the hell the mother and father who have no news of their son or the wife who lives with no news of her husband are going through Imagine a 25-year-old woman with two children who says ‘I don't know how to pray because I don't know if my husband is alive or dead This becomes torture because the child asks every day And that woman doesn't know what to answer she doesn't know how to tell her child whether his father is alive or dead Every time a new prisoner exchange is announced and when the people who were previously registered as missing appear and accompanying them is a very difficult challenge they present me with endless lists of relatives who are prisoners of war I write a letter with a new list of prisoners of war I am deeply grateful to the Holy Father for his commitment to the release of prisoners of war We pray that one day they may be released and return home This is the picture of the suffering of Ukrainian families today this is how war has struck at the heart of Ukrainian society Another dimension of Ukrainian society's life is children We are witnessing a dramatic decline in births in Ukraine This is one third of what normally happened in Ukraine before the Ukrainian government claims that 527 children have been killed and 1,224 injured to varying degrees of severity a great crime against the dignity of the child are the deportations by the Russian government of Ukrainian children from the occupied areas to Russia Ukrainian authorities claim to have identified and verified information about nearly 20,000 children who were deported to Russia during the full-scale war from the occupied territories to Russia is of about 700,000 The Ukrainian government states that as of January 24 388 children have been returned to Ukraine We are grateful that the International Court is studying this phenomenon and is already defining all this as a crime against humanity But we must pray for these children because they are among the weakest and most vulnerable This phenomenon of war children in Ukraine is another humanitarian disaster that we We must give voice to these voiceless children I have met some children who were deported by the Russians and then including the mission of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi very particular pastoral accompaniment because in their young age they have experienced unimaginable human cruelty and some of them have been sexually abused This is a cry of pain from Ukraine that the whole world must be aware of and listen to What is your message to Catholics worldwide two years after the start of the full-scale invasion Archbishop Shevchuk We are doing everything to end this senseless war We must seek all means to restrain the aggressor because war always brings death and the destruction of human life and entire societies I would like our brothers and sisters in Europe and around the world to understand that the war in Ukraine is not just a "Ukrainian war," meaning it's not simply a phenomenon that can be confined within the borders of our suffering country: it is a reality that is invading the world like a volcano erupting in Ukrainian territory not just the soldier on the front lines and their family but also everyone who lives near or far from the borders of Ukraine Do not forget us because if we are forgotten and abandoned this earthquake that we are experiencing in Ukraine today will shake the entire world We have hope that true solidarity saves lives; solidarity can help us find solutions that perhaps we have not yet identified today Do not forget Ukraine; do not abandon us in our mourning and pain VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has continued to call on Russian and Ukrainian leaders to negotiate an end to the war but the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church told him Russia wants only the destruction of Ukraine Ukrainian Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych met Pope Francis Nov the first time the two have met in person since Russia started the war in late February although they have spoken on the phone many times Archbishop Shevchuk gave the pope “a fragment of a Russian mine that destroyed the facade of the Ukrainian Catholic church building in the town of Irpin in March,” the archbishop’s office said not only because Irpin was one of the first ‘martyr towns’ affected by the Russian aggression against Ukraine but also because similar pieces of landmines are extracted from the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers a visible sign of the destruction and death that war brings every day.” Pope Francis had told reporters traveling with him that the Vatican is “constantly attentive” to what is happening in Ukraine and that the Secretariat of State continues to do what is possible and has worked behind the scenes to help arrange prisoner exchanges The pope also told reporters he thinks the cruelty of the attacks on Ukraine and its civilians is the work of mercenaries who are “a great people” and have a strong “humanism.” Pope Francis reiterated the Holy See’s commitment to end the fighting and find a way to obtain “a just peace,” the archbishop’s office said “The war in Ukraine is a colonial war and the peace proposals coming from Russia are colonial appeasement proposals,” the archbishop told the pope “These proposals involve the denial of the existence of the Ukrainian people It is the denial of the very right to the existence of the Ukrainian state recognized by the international community with its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” the archbishop thanked the pope for all his prayers and efforts “to stop the war and mediate peace free hostages and prisoners and organize the universal solidarity of the Catholic Church on behalf of the suffering Ukrainian people,” the statement said Archbishop Shevchuk also visited with retired Pope Benedict XVI Nov 9 in the monastery in the Vatican gardens where the 95-year-old retired pontiff lives The archbishop said Pope Benedict assured Ukrainians of his constant prayers for peace Pope Francis met on Tuesday with the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) on the occasion of the 1030th anniversary of the baptism of Rus’-Ukraine Major Archbishop Sviatoslav drew attention to the UGCC’s relations with the other churches that are “heirs to the Baptism by Saint Volodomyr.” Speaking of the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine his Beatitude spoke of the “painful reality” of divisions although the UGCC looks positively on efforts to overcome division it nonetheless considers such matters internal to the Orthodox Churches insisting that the UGCC never interferes in or takes part in such efforts Major Archbishop Sviatoslav explained that the USCCB so-called “uniatism” as a method for achieving “the unity of Christ’s Church.” He noted that the Eastern Catholic Churches are not a means toward that unity but are themselves “living members of Christ’s Church,” with a right to exist and a call to engage in mission and in the work of evangelization The Major Archbishop in a statement on Wednesday said that during the audience Pope Francis “thanked the UGCC for its martyrdom” as “a Confession of the Christian Faith and a testimony that the Successor of Peter the Apostle has a special mission of service to Christian unity.” The Pope agreed that any accusations of “uniatism” against the UGCC are absolutely without foundation the Holy Father also expressed his “closeness to the Ukrainian nation which is living through a painful period in its history.” Other matters touched upon in the audience were the issue of Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation especially emphasized by Pope Francis; and the upcoming ecumenical gathering in Bari Italy; as well as a proposal by Major Archbishop Sviatoslav for a meeting in Rome next year of Eastern Catholic Bishops in Europe.  Christmas Song Aims to Inspire Peace in the Holy Land Pope’s Message of Hope Launched into Space to Orbit Earth Here is Pope Francis’ Schedule for World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon Marian Apparitions Must Always Point to Jesus An aerial view shows an illuminated Christmas tree in front of the Cathedral of St By Catholic News Service • Posted March 1 ROME (CNS) — The Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Kyiv-Halych and the Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See said they had received information that Russia planned airstrikes on the Cathedral of St Not only is the cathedral holy to all Slavic peoples The cathedral has religious significance for the Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholics Its construction was begun in the 11th century several hundred years before Ukrainian Catholics declared their union with Rome and broke union with the Orthodox A Rome spokesman for Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych major archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic church said church officials had received intelligence about the airstrikes He said Archbishop Shevchuk called on all Christians to pray for the site and “calls upon the aggressor to refrain from this most horrific act of vandalism.” Sophia — the wisdom of God — illumine those who have considered committing this crime,” Archbishop Shevchuk said The Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See tweeted out the information from “intelligence data” and said in all caps “We appeal to the Russians — do not commit the crime.” The March 1 warning came as Russia began airstrikes against Kyiv and warned residents near Ukrainian security services to evacuate their homes professor of history and dean of academic services at Manor College in Jenkintown spoke directly to CatholicPhilly.com March 1 about the importance of the cathedral Sophia is a testament to Ukrainian national consciousness and spirit,” he said He noted that given its prominence in the history of Orthodox Christianity as well “it is the symbol of all Christianity No Orthodox faithful of any kind would ever contemplate such an act Rudnytzky said if this intelligence is true “Putin is betraying his hand here and trying to do what the Soviets couldn’t This (would not just be) an attack on Western civilization but a specified attack on Christianity.” Contributing to this story was Gina Christian in Philadelphia CatholicPhilly.com works to strengthen the connections between people families and communities every day by delivering the news people need to know about the Catholic Church you and hundreds of other people become part of our mission to inform form in the Catholic faith and inspire the thousands of readers who visit every month Please join in the church's vital mission of communications by offering a gift in whatever amount that you can ― a single gift of $40 Your gift will strengthen the fabric of our entire Catholic community and sustain CatholicPhilly.com as your trusted news source PREVIOUS: Papal pleas for peace: Even if unheeded USCCB: Statement of USCCB on Vatican’s Document Addressing Pastoral Blessings Pope Francis’ May 2023 Prayer Intention | Watch Video Catholic Charities of Philadelphia Returns to Roots Dan Tarrant Brings God to the World Through Catholic Filmmaking Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church joins Pope Francis and bishops around the world in consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary March 25 The archbishop’s service was held in the Cathedral of the Mother of God in Zarvanytsia 20220330T0615-POPE-CONSECRATION-1524462 web ROME — With his voice often trembling and tears sliding down to his beard the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke via Zoom about the death and destruction Russia is raining down on his people and his country Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych repeatedly apologized for the tears and acknowledged the contrast between his daily video messages of encouragement to his people and his talk during the webinar March 29 sponsored by Rome’s Pontifical Oriental Institute He started the videos to keep in touch with his people and “just to let people know that I am alive but I think I can (cry) with you,” he said I feel an obligation to be a preacher of hope a hope that does not come from military power or from the possibility of diplomacy — we don’t have those hopes yet — but a hope that comes from faith.” “The strength of the Ukrainian people is being revealed as a miracle that is surprising the world.” the Russians have “razed everything to the ground” and the only food the people have is what they get from the churches and other aid agencies near the failed Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and an Eastern-rite Catholic priest and his wife there welcomed their third child into the world “in the midst of a terrible assault.” “The baby was born in a hospital without electricity and without water,” Archbishop Shevchuk said knowing that the baby was about to be born I tried to intercede to get my priest and his family brought to safety ‘You are my bishop and I received from you the mandate to be the pastor of these people People will rebuild the churches and houses and bridges and factories destroyed by Russian shelling but the people killed will not be reunited with their loved ones “only on the day of the resurrection of the body.” Archbishop Shevchuk choked up talking about the bravery of his priests and their wives but his tears really began to flow when he spoke about reports of thousands of people being taken against their will to Russia and their passports being confiscated “This reminds us of the deportations of (Josef) Stalin,” he said “I feel an obligation to be the voice of this suffering people and to be a simple witness to the reality being lived by our people in Ukraine.” “I never would have imagined being the head of the church in a time of war,” he said “No one is ever prepared for war except for the criminals who plan and put it into action.” In a long list of people he wanted to thank Archbishop Shevchuk singled out Pope Francis especially for his decision to lead a global consecration of the world Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary March 25 because “before our eyes there is a battle “This consecration to our Mother who crushed the head of the ancient dragon this strong presence of the Mother of God among us is very important for us,” said the archbishop who led a simultaneous consecration at the Cathedral of the Mother of God in Zarvanytsia Arlington Catholic Herald200 N. Glebe Rd.Suite 615Arlington, VA 22203703-841-2590800-377-0511 Website Design and Development by New Target Poland (CNS) — Prevented by war from meeting in Kyiv 40 Ukrainian Catholic bishops from around the world met in Poland less than 10 miles from the border with their homeland The meeting of the Synod of Bishops of the Eastern-rite church had been delayed two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic the heightened need for ministry to their people and the pastoral and psychological care of Ukrainians forced from their homes made the synod July 7-15 even more essential have found ourselves on the front line of the information war That is why it is essential for us to experience this synod to feel the fraternal unity of our global church which unites all Ukrainians around the world in Ukraine and in the diaspora,” said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych at the synod’s opening Divine Liturgy July 7 in the Ukrainian Cathedral of St The Ukrainian Catholic Church at home and abroad has become “a powerful voice” for sharing with the world “who Ukrainians are who entrusted the bishops and their deliberations to the care of Blessed Mykola Charnetsky and the two dozen bishops nuns and laypeople beatified with him in 2001 as martyrs of Soviet persecution “In this very moment we better understand the circumstances in which these martyrs lived and died,” the nuncio said they protect their suffering people from heaven.” I renew my closeness to the Ukrainian people, who are daily tormented by the brutal attacks that ordinary people are paying for. Let us #PrayTogether that God might show the way to put an end to this senseless war — Pope Francis (@Pontifex) July 10, 2022 Pope Francis urged the bishops to be close to their people so they can give to them “the living water of hope.” Hope and encouragement cannot be conveyed solely by words They must know that their pastors are with them While the Ukrainian bishops were meeting in Poland told an Italian news program that a serious study of a possible papal trip to Kyiv would begin after the pope returned from Canada July 30 Asked if the trip could take place in August a lot depends on the results of the trip to Canada Let’s see how the pope holds up during this trip secretary-general of the International Catholic Migration Commission and convener of the Catholic Response for Ukraine Working Group met with the Ukrainian bishops in Przemysl July 9 sharing information about the global Catholic response to the needs of Ukrainians displaced by the war and listening to the bishops concerns about the current and future needs of their people The ICMC is a Vatican-approved network of the migration and refugee services of national bishops’ conferences and Catholic charitable agencies Since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February the commission and the working group have tried to coordinate efforts to serve both people who have fled Ukraine and those displaced within the country includes Caritas Internationalis and its Ukrainian members Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe and the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union “No activity report or international advocacy statement could ever hope to communicate the lessons that I have learned during my one-week visit to Poland and Ukraine which I will conclude today,” he told the bishops “My ‘teachers,'” he said “were the displaced persons and refugees themselves and your own bishops religious sisters and brothers and the faithful laypersons who are laboring monasteries and schools as well as in private homes and local government buildings to offer comfort and build resilience among those millions of Ukrainians who have lost their limbs and are deeply grieving the loss of life and of property in so many parts of Ukraine that have been subjected to such terrible violence.” Vitillo reported that after his introductory remarks the bishops expressed “concerns about special protection of children and need to supply psycho-social experts to help integration — not assimilation — of refugees into host countries the psychological and medical impact of the war on soldiers as well as on priests — including issues related to substance abuse — the need for refugees and internally displaced persons to have access to work and decent housing and the need for rehabilitation and development programs after the war is over.” Your email will be used to send you The Tablet newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy. More info Create your free account or log in to continue reading The Tablet is the newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn, serving Brooklyn and Queens since 1908.© 2025 DeSales Media Group, Inc. Website by 345 Design ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " That’s according to the relevant video posted by the Forces’ press service "Aerial reconnaissance of the Halych paratroopers quickly detected an enemy van on the move and FPV strike drone operators quickly destroyed an improvised depot set up by Russians in the Bakhmut direction which will complicate their further actions," the report reads the stocks of ammunition and mines were spotted in a forest strip near Klishchiivka As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russia’s total combat losses since February 24 according to an assessment by the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said he was consoled by Pope Francis' words of understanding and tenderness after he expressed the disappointment of Ukrainians with a joint declaration signed by the pope and the Russian Orthodox patriarch The pope's remarks were "truly the opening of the doors of mercy," said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow signed a joint declaration in Cuba on Feb the archbishop said it contains unclear statements on the war in Eastern Ukraine and on the identity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church He also said his people were deeply disappointed in the declaration's wording 17 to a reporter's questions about the archbishop's critique Pope Francis said everyone has a right to his or her own opinions about the declaration and the archbishop's criticisms must be read in light of the experience of Ukrainian Catholics But Pope Francis also spoke about how his friendship with Archbishop Shevchuk began when they were both ministering in Buenos Aires and how the archbishop had given him an icon of Our Lady of Tenderness which is one of the few things he asked to have brought to the Vatican after his election in 2013 In an interview with Catholic News Service in Rome on Feb Archbishop Shevchuk said he was pleased that even for the pope it is not a page of the Holy Gospel," but rather offers indications for discussion The archbishop said that when the pope-patriarch meeting was first announced 'Finally,' and I was pleased that Pope Francis repeated almost the same when he embraced Patriarch Kirill" in Havana "I think that the very gesture is sacred—we are supposed to meet but that meeting is only a tool to start true The desire for mutual respect and closer cooperation among Catholics and Orthodox in Ukraine is not in question but the declaration's depiction of the situation in Eastern Ukraine and the terminology used to describe the Ukrainian Catholic Church are In encouraging an end to tensions between Orthodox and Eastern-rite Catholics the declaration referred to the churches that are in full union with Rome as "ecclesial communities," a phrase usually used to designate communities the Catholic Church believes are lacking valid sacraments and apostolic succession as part of the Catholic Church that does not apply to Ukrainian Catholics The declaration's affirmation that the Ukrainian Catholic and other Eastern Catholic churches have the right "to undertake all that is necessary to meet the spiritual needs of their faithful while seeking to live in peace with their neighbors," the archbishop said the declaration's recognition that the Eastern churches have a "right to exist" makes no sense because "it's not that we need anyone's permission to exist." "The Lord resurrected us to full life 25 years ago after the fall of the Soviet Union," he added the Ukrainian Catholic Church was illegal and functioned in the underground; in ecumenical dialogues at the time the Russian Orthodox claimed the church did not exist Once the Soviet Union dissolved and the Ukrainian Catholic Church began functioning publicly some Orthodox claimed its very existence was an attempt to encroach on the "canonical territory" of the Orthodox Along with other Eastern Catholic churches 'sui iuris' churches (having their own law) We conserve the Eastern Catholic-Orthodox spiritual-liturgical tradition but we are in full communion with the successor of Peter." Being part of the universal Catholic Church should preserve Ukrainian and other Eastern Catholics from excessive "provincialism Being Catholic today means being ecumenical." is how it seems to hint that the war in Eastern Ukraine is a civil war and not one involving both Russian troops and Russian support The declaration invited "all sides involved in the conflict to prudence to social solidarity and to action aimed at constructing peace." The pope and patriarch also said "We invite our churches in Ukraine to work toward social harmony to refrain from taking part in the confrontation and to not support any further development of the conflict." Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk director of foreign relations for the Moscow Patriarchate said the Russian Orthodox still see the Eastern Catholics as an obstacle to normalized relations he said the need for joint efforts to defend the rights of persecuted Christians in the Middle East was more pressing In addition to calling for protection and respect for religious minorities the declaration also urged Catholics and Russian Orthodox to work together to fight secularization to protect the environment and to defend definitions of marriage and family life "It is good to be united because of so many common challenges in today's world," Archbishop Shevchuk said "but I think that real ecumenism is the search for unity in the name of one God The permanent synod of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was to meet in Rome beginning Feb 27 and its members hoped to have a meeting with Pope Francis News of the letter was announced by the Polish Bishops’ Conference (KEP) on Wednesday The Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, expressed his gratitude to the Polish delegation, led by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki Abp Szewczuk w liście do Przewodniczącego KEP @Abp_Gadecki: Chciałbym szczerze podziękować za słowa otuchy i zapewnienia o nieustannej otwartości i gotowości niesienia pomocy dla najbardziej potrzebujących [...] #Ukrainahttps://t.co/QHQkWTgFmU pic.twitter.com/LSkZAeF2P4 ‘Thank you for your spiritual and moral support to Ukraine’ Shevchuk wrote: “I would like to extend warm words of enormous gratitude for your visit as well as for the spiritual and moral support you showed for our Church and the whole Ukrainian nation.” He added that Ukrainians were defending their “sovereignty as well as the right to self-determination.” Poland ‘ceaselessly ready’ to help Ukraine  Shevchuk thanked Gądecki for his “words of comfort and reassurance” that Poland’s Catholic Church and the entire nation were “ceaselessly ready” to help “those suffering as a result of Russia’s war operations.”    to be held in the southeastern Polish city of Przemyśl in July The delegation of Polish Catholic Church officials, who also included Archbishop Wojciech Polak Abp Szewczuk podziękował Przewodniczącemu Episkopatu Polski @Abp_Gadecki za wizytę solidarności polskich biskupów w Ukrainie.Treść listu: https://t.co/QHQkWTgFmUfot. @StanislawBudzik pic.twitter.com/KJEqw0S4Cc They travelled to the capital Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, where they said prayers for the victims of Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian towns of Bucha and Irpin Wednesday was day 91 of Russia’s war on Ukraine Source: PAP, episkopat.pl  Can the rock band make the most of the home crowd Twitter: @otorvaldband The Ukrainian rock bank was first formed in 2005 with the current line-up hitting the big time when they were chosen to be the home act in this year's contest They'll be making full use of their home country's staging too with a giant robot head dominating the arena the gory digital clocks that seemed to be buried in their torsos during the official video (above) appear to have been dropped and was written by members of the band Halych Yevhen and Miziuk Denys The chorus at least makes them sound pretty confident.. Time to lookTime to seeTime to findTime to look into your eyesTime to find truthTime against the liesTime will give us a signI can make a promiseIt's our time to shine  Here's everything you need to know about the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Eurovision 2017: Who's performing in the final? Check out the full list of acts and running order for the show, starting live on BBC1 at 8pm. Torvald?Who are Ukraine's Eurovision entry O Torvald?Can the rock band make the most of the home crowd Twitter: @otorvaldband with the current line-up hitting the big time when they were chosen to be the home act in this year's contest They'll be making full use of their home country's staging too What's the Ukraine Eurovision song called and was written by members of the band Halych Yevhen and Miziuk Denys Time to lookTime to seeTime to findTime to look into your eyesTime to find truthTime against the liesTime will give us a signI can make a promiseIt's our time to shine Here's everything you need to know about the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Eurovision 2017: Who's performing in the final? Check out the full list of acts and running order for the show, starting live on BBC1 at 8pm you are agreeing to site title privacy policy This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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Holiday brochuresNeed inspiration of where to go next Request a free brochure and start your journey THE head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church invited Pope Francis to visit the war-torn nation “It would be a prophetic gesture that would show the power of prayer and Christian solidarity and build a better future for everyone,” major archbishop of Kiev-Halych Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said Orthodox Christians and “people of goodwill” in Ukraine the archbishop personally invited the Pope telling journalists on February 23 that such a visit would “bring peace to that part of Eastern Europe soaked with the blood of so many martyrs for the unity of the Church” The archbishop was in Rome following an “ad limina” visit from February 16-21 in which bishops from Ukraine’s Eastern and Latin-rite traditions reported to the Pope and the Vatican on the state of their dioceses Archbishop Shevchuk spoke to journalists about the bishops’ February 20 meeting with Pope Francis He said the Pope “truly listened to us with a paternal heart” asking to hear about how the Ukrainian people including their “Orthodox brothers and sisters” were facing the current conflict and crisis After their closed-door talks with the Pope Archbishop Shevchuk said the “our bishops felt not only welcomed but also encouraged and above all reaffirmed that we have taken the right position” during the recent turmoil in Ukraine – that is the position of “being at the side of one’s people listening carefully to the voice of our people – this is what the Holy Father asks us to do” “Ukraine is the victim” in this war with Russia and “often Ukrainians feel abandoned But he said their meeting with the Pope left them feeling that “the Holy Father is with us he gives witness to us that God is always on the side of those who suffer” In a written address that was handed out to the bishops the Pope told them to focus on the social and human tragedies unfolding in their country and avoid politicising their role as Church leaders He asked the bishops to work together and be a clear moral voice calling for peace and harmony as well as strong defenders of families The Pope assured the bishops of his prayers and concerns about the “serious conflict” in their nation and the numerous innocent victims and suffering it has caused as I have assured you on many occasions directly and through cardinal envoys I am particularly close to you with my prayer for the deceased and for all those affected by the violence with prayer to the Lord that he may soon grant peace,” he said Pope Francis said he continued to appeal to “all sides concerned” to respect international law and carry out their agreements what is important is to listen carefully to the voices that come from the places where the people who are entrusted to your pastoral care live” because it was by listening to one’s own flock that they would be able to help uphold the community’s values of “encounter the ability to settle controversies” Archbishop Shevchuk said the path the Pope was indicating was “right – to be at the side of your people and listen to the voice of the people” and that it was the same approach the bishops had been taking the whole time by addressing social injustices and not supporting any political party When it came to ecumenical dialogue aimed at peace he said it had been very difficult to get the Russian Orthodox Church’s Moscow Patriarchate to help advocate an end to the violence He said this had caused the many Russian Orthodox in Ukraine to question “how come these brothers of the same Church “If pastors are not able to listen to the voice of their flock and respect the sensitivity of their faithful If the Church hierarchy takes the side of those with power against their own people they lose their credibility,” he said The archbishop said the bishops’ visit to the Pope and the Vatican Secretariat of State was an important opportunity to tell them “the truth” about the ongoing crisis: that it was not a civil war but “a foreign invasion a war imposed on us from the outside” They told Vatican officials that some of the terms that had been used – for example when the Pope said on February 4 the conflict was a “fratricide” a war between Christians baptised in the same faith – had been extremely painful to the people of Ukraine because it echoed the rhetoric in the Russian position on the conflict He said Christian values can be manipulated by Russian authorities “for political motives” adding that no state policy or propaganda that “sacrifices millions of human beings for geopolitical aims respects Christian values” He said he told the Pope how more than 2 million people had been displaced by the fighting had been killed to date and another 12,500 people physically wounded “The Pope was touched by these numbers” especially by how many children were being affected the Church was helping more than 40,000 people a day The people had opened their hearts to the Church as a “stable point of reference” during so much confusion and misguidance The Church had become a true “field hospital” as so many people were suffering spiritually and psychologically from anxiety which had become as real a threat to human lives as “the Russian-built missiles” The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929 accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians who have walked upon and cared for this land for thousands of years We acknowledge the continued deep spiritual attachment and relationship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to this country and commit ourselves to the ongoing journey of Reconciliation Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader