The Vatican once again began to reconcile Ukrainians and Russians by involving them in the Holy Procession, which took place on the evening of April 7.
This was announced by the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Vatican, Andriy Yurash.
“It became known from the media that during the 10th station, children (boys) from Ukraine and Russia would symbolize the tragedy of the war. The Russian boy, in particular, will talk about his murdered brother, father, and grandfather who went missing amid war. But he will definitely forget to mention that his relatives came to Ukraine to kill not only the Ukrainian boy’s father, but the whole family… and not the other way around!” Andriy Yurash wrote on Facebook.
It is known that the boy from Ukraine is a refugee who had to flee from Mariupol, surrounded by Russian troops, before making it to Italy.
“When we arrived in Italy, I was sad. I felt stripped and completely naked. I didn’t know the language and I didn’t have a single friend,” Vatican News quoted him as saying.
Instead, the boy from Russia said that he feels guilty, but does not understand why, and that he does not feel “happiness” or have “dreams for the future.”
“Everyone told us that we should be proud, but at home there was only great sadness and suffering,” he said. “The same thing happened with my father and grandfather, who left, and we don’t have any news about them. One of my school friends, with great fear, told me in my ear that there was a war. When I returned home, I wrote a prayer: ‘Jesus, please make there be peace in the whole world, so that we can all be brothers.’”
It should be recalled that at the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis wanted to meet with the dictator Vladimir Putin, but he was denied such an opportunity.
