ROME — The Catholic bishop of Odesa, Ukraine, said this week that if Russia attacks, it will fail because “people will fight ferociously to defend their city.”
Bishop Stanislav Szyrokoradiuk told Catholic News Service (CNS) that the important port city of Odesa is prepared for a Russian frontal attack in the coming days, insisting that “every street and square will resist, even if this takes years.”
The 65-year-old bishop told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Thursday that Odesa had suffered bombardment by the Russian military over the last few days and that there had been frequent air raid warnings.
“So many people are dying every day,” he said.
Relatives and friends attend a funeral ceremony for four of the Ukrainian military servicemen, who were killed during an airstrike in a military base in Yavoriv, in a church in Lviv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 15, 2022 (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue).
While dozens of Odesa’s families have been killed by the strikes, the bishop observed, a full-on attack on the city — which lies on the Black Sea not far from Crimea, where the Russian Federation has battleships stationed — has yet to happen, but the people expect one soon.
“We are constantly afraid of an attack from the sea,” he said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has united citizens across confessional borders, galvanizing their resistance, Szyrokoradiuk noted, as an overriding common cause often does.
“In a war, when people are dying and whole districts being erased with their schools and hospitals, you can’t ask who’s Catholic and who’s Orthodox,” he told CNS. “The whole world is watching without wishing to act, while Russian planes and tanks seek to wipe us from the face of the earth.”
“Many people have left the city,” the bishop told Vatican Radio. “However, many people remain: poor, lonely, elderly and homeless. We are doing what we can to help those in need.”
“We host refugees in our retreat and recreation centers, we distribute basic necessities, food, clothes, hygiene products, and medicines,” he said.
On Friday afternoon, feast of the archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, Pope Francis will be dedicating Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Szyrokoradiuk said his people would join him in “praying for their nation and land.”
“This isn’t a war, but a satanic action, based on lies and destruction — and the devil doesn’t listen to God, let alone to the Holy Father,” he said.
“Though I can’t foresee what the Russians will do if they overrun Odesa, I still believe the Lord will not allow this. In any event, we’ll stay here among our people, trusting in Christ and Mary,” he said.
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