Currents News Staff
Pope Francis has made the decision to send two of his best men to Ukraine, which continues to be battered by the war. They leave this week, with a very clear mission.
“To serve the people, to help,” Pope Francis said, “Cardinal Krajewski, the Almoner, to bring aid to the needy, and Cardinal Czerny, interim Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.”
Armed with the Gospel and rosaries from the Holy Father, their objective is to bring some solace to the people. Cardinal Krajewski will cross into the country from Poland, his country of origin. This cardinal has shown, on other occasions, his determination to fight injustice.
He personally knows many of Rome’s homeless people, and even offered them refuge in a parish at the height of the pandemic. In 2019, he became known for illegally turning on the power in a building where immigrants, including children, were spending the winter.
Then there is Cardinal Czerny, who was born in the Czech Republic and migrated to Canada. For years, he has been in charge of the Migrants and Refugees section of the Dicastery he currently leads. He will enter Ukraine from Hungary.
They are two men of action, capable of bringing concrete solutions to poverty and the challenges of migration. Sending them is the Holy Father’s way of expressing his closeness to the Ukrainian people.
“The presence of the two cardinals there is the presence not only of the Pope,” the pontiff said, “but of all the Christian people who want to draw near and say, “War is madness! Stop, please! Look at this cruelty!”
The mayor of Kyiv has asked men and women religious to remain in Ukraine, to sustain those still in the capital with prayer. Sending two high-ranking cardinals to Ukraine is a gesture of solidarity but also a diplomatic move directed at Putin.