The war

A summer vocation camp for children aged 16 and over will be held in the Vorzel seminary from 15 to 21 August. The building was destroyed and looted in April, during heavy fighting on the outskirts of Kiev. A few kilometers from here, there are the martyr cities of Bucha, Irpin, Borodjanka. “We don’t know how many will come”, confides the rector of the seminary, Father Ruslan Mykhalkiv: “It is not important. It is important to change the atmosphere, take time, listen to the Lord “

(Photo: RKC)

It was early April when the Vorzel Higher Seminary was sacked. It is located on the outskirts of Kiev, a few kilometers from the martyr cities of Bucha, Irpin, Borodjanka. In those days of intense fighting in the area, some entered the seminary, broke through the entrance gate and took everything away. The photos of the statue of the Madonna destroyed on the ground, of the shattered windows and of the mortar rounds on the walls went around the world. They were a sign that war respects nothing, not even places of prayer and spirituality. Five months after that event, the seminary has not only reopened, thanks also to the contribution of many, but from 15 to 21 August, it will host a vocational summer camp for children aged 16 and over. “We don’t know how many will come”, confides the rector of the seminary, father Ruslan Mykhalkiv. “It’s not important. It is important to change the atmosphere, take time, listen to the Lord ”. On the invitation, the students are asked to bring “the Holy Scriptures, a notebook with a pen, a change of clothes and

(Photo of the diocese of Kiev)

good mood”. The program includes moments of spirituality and moments of play and recreation. We will also go to Bucha, Irpin, Borodjanka, to show the wounds of the war. Because “spirituality” – says the rector – is not a place to escape but a place “where you can find an answer to the questions of the children and to all the evil they have experienced”. There is a key word that priests have chosen this year for this initiative and it is: “despite”: “despite everything that is happening, despite the war that has deeply complicated and reduced our lives. Despite – Father Ruslan explains – it means that we want to remain faithful to life, guard our future, look ahead. He means that despite the situation and the weight of the war, we remain normal ”.

How are young people in Ukraine?

Despite the madness of this situation and the injustice that cries to heaven, we are witnessing dynamics that are profoundly Christian and human. I refer, for example, to the readiness we are seeing in helping others, in meeting people forced to leave their homes, especially from the east of the country. There are not only weapons and fighting but also communities that have opened their doors to welcome. The war made us rediscover the importance of others and the generosity of a people. Young people? They need to have examples to look to. And there are so many of them today in Ukraine. I am thinking of the army, volunteers, doctors, even priests. There are chauffeurs who drive trains, minibuses and buses to help people evacuate and move from one city to another. There are people who distribute bread and humanitarian aid in the centers. There is always someone behind that works.

Will the schools resume in September?

This is a very sensitive issue. Because the missiles don’t stop being fired above us. And schools are not adequate to guarantee the safety of students. They are not places where youngsters and children can take refuge in the event of an alarm. But staying at home also hurts. We have seen this in the two-year lockdown. Distance learning takes away the contact that children have so much need. But the resumption of courses is too risky now. Our enemy acts like a terrorist society. He doesn’t even stop in front of the schools.

Have many young people left the country or have they stayed?

Many remained. And many who had left, have returned. It depends on the area they escaped from. It is also said that between October and November, there may be a new wave of fleeing people who will flee from the eastern parts of the country where there is war. Up to now they have moved on in the hope of resisting, but the winters here are very hard and people will be forced to leave their homes.

Doesn’t it seem to you that the war, in addition to destroying the houses, is also stealing the future of the children?

Yes, also because they have destroyed many universities, schools, kindergartens. Many children have their parents working in the army and many of them have never returned. They disappeared. Forcibly moved to Russia or Belarus. This situation does not affect everyone but many people are hurt by this reality. And then the sirens: their sound is now the background to our life. It is true that we are used to it but then there are reports of missiles being launched on the houses, then you understand that it is all true, that we are at war, that you can never feel safe.

When the Vorzel seminary was hit, the bishop of Kiev, Msgr. Vitalii Kryvytsky, said it was important to reopen it for the good of the Church and the country because Ukraine, which will be rebuilt after the war, will also need spiritual guides – priests. How should the priests of “reconstruction” be?

I think it will have to be a person who knows what love means and what suffering means, who has experienced both situations and for this reason believes that love is stronger, even than death itself. He must also be a person who knows how to distance himself from the evil generated by war because it is an evil that consumes you inside, it enters you by unleashing strong emotions, feelings of hatred against an injustice suffered for no reason. He must therefore be a person capable of always remaining in hope, of keeping the heart in forgiveness, of not allowing the poison of death to enter. War is a heavy condition but it has confronted us with what it really is worth. The priest must be a person capable of accompanying people on this path. I know at least three mothers who don’t know where their children are in the Ukrainian army. They took them to Russia but they don’t know where. How can they forgive? Maybe there are no answers but there is a path to take together.

The war-torn Vorzel seminary opens up to young people. The rector: “In spite of everything, we believe in life” | AgenSIR