A large portion of this assistance consisted of emergency existential aid, which benefited 7,447 diocesan priests, religious sisters and brothers, and diocesan staff. These are the men and women who have remained on the ground, sometimes in the most dangerous situations, keeping the life and activities of the Church going.

According to information from local news sources, the government has now taken to arresting and reprimanding priests who mention bishop Rolando Álvarez in their sermons, which they describe as “forbidden activity.”

" Everybody was screaming, they should have exited the house, but everybody stayed put, so I stayed with them. I crouched under a beam and prayed, begging God to have mercy."

Precisely because he was a first-hand witness to that trip, Pope Francis asked that he represent him at the commemoration, which gathered faithful from all the country’s dioceses. The trip gave Cardinal Stella the opportunity to see how important the Church’s work is with the neediest in society.

"Then I heard my brother scream. I rushed inside and saw my son’s head in one corner of the room and the rest of his body in the center."

Two priests, Father Ivan Levytsky and Father Bohdan Heleta, were arrested by Russian forces on November 16 and stand charged with leading resistance in the occupied city of Berdyansk. Despite constant efforts, the Church has not been able to secure their release, and there are fears that they are being tortured, said Major Archbishop Shevchuk.