Ukrainian bishop: We have lost half of the parishes in areas occupied by Russia

More than two and a half years after the Russian invasion, the Church has lost more than half of the parishes in the regions that have been occupied, said Bishop Maksym Ryabukha, new Greek Catholic bishop of the Donetsk exarchate.

In statements to Italian diary Avvenirethe 44-year-old prelate said that “the situation is always more worrying” since the war began in February 2022.

“We have already lost more than half of the parishes. And, with the Russian army advancing, dozens more churches were evacuated,” added Bishop Ryabukha, whose diocese has been divided by the war.

According to the Italian media, in the churches of Pokrovsk, Mirnohrad and Kostiantynivka – areas taken by Russian forces – there are no longer any furniture or sacred decorations left.

The new bishop of the Donetsk exarchate indicated that the priests “remain close to the population and visit refugees who have left their homes.” In his case, he says that he is now “a bishop in a time of pain, drama, injustice, and helplessness” as he sees his Church suffering.

Bishop Ryabukha reported that, in the areas occupied by Russia, “those who call themselves openly Catholic disappear: some are shot; others (are) imprisoned. You do not have the right to freely profess your faith. Our faithful repeat: ‘We resist, but it is like being locked in a prison.’”

For this reason, he stated that currently “there is more need than ever to be a father. Which means hugging people to remind everyone that they are never alone under the bombs.”

Among the painful experiences, the prelate remembers the imprisonment of his priests Bohdan Geleta and Ivan Levitskyi for more than a year, after being captured by the Russians in Berdiansk.

Both were released last June and Bishop Ryabukha has noted that their stories “show how the strength of prayer is a vital support in the midst of atrocities.”

“Our two priests felt the closeness of the Church that allowed them to resist the evil, the torture, the inhumanity that they experienced in the Russian cells. And it is with prayer that I also approach the communities that prevent me from visiting them. Every day I ask the Lord to protect them,” he said.

The prelate, who periodically visits the Ukrainian soldiers, related that many of them, before the war, “were simple parents or even former Salesian students. “They put aside their plans to defend the country.”

“We know that the war will end. But we all want this to happen as soon as possible and with peace in the name of justice,” he added.