Cardinal Krajewski in prayer at the mass graves of Izyum

The Pope’s envoy to Ukraine, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, was at Izyum, “in silence and in prayer” in one of the largest mass graves found in Ukraine to date. To tell the story, according to SIR, Monsignor Pavlo Honcharuk, Bishop of the Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia, who accompanied him.

“Today we went to the mass burial sites, in Izyum, where the bodies were exhumed. It was very difficult – says Honcharuk -. When the team was digging, when we looked at these bodies, somehow they were thrown into the pits, a corpse without legs, the second with legs broken There was a very strong stench, which really struck me: a very heavy stench. And there are a lot of those graves….” “Even the cardinal was very impressed,” continues the bishop. “We walked with him, he saw all of this and it was clearly a profound experience for him.”

The bishop and “Cardinal Pope Francis” – as he is called in Ukraine – visited the police station from which the Russians set up a torture chamber. “We went to those dungeons, the places where these people were held, horrific conditions, cold, damp, dark, filthy, completely inhuman. We’ve seen this evil and all this crime being committed. And it’s still happening, and we can only wonder what isn’t.” Still revealing.

Cardinal Krajewski meets with priests, religious people, representatives of other religious denominations and churches in Ukraine. “His arrival – as Archbishop Honcharuk explains – is a sign of the presence of the Holy Father. This is his message.” Wherever the cardinal goes he distributes rosaries. “Today – recalls Honcharuk – when we passed the embankment, the rosaries were donated there as well. We say: He is from the Vatican, he is our Cardinal, he is the representative of Pope Francis.”

Tomorrow Cardinal Kragowski will leave Kharkiv for Kyiv. His mission will end in the capital.