On April 5-11, 2023, the Minister General, Friar Carlos A. TROVARELLI and the Provincial Custos of the Holy Cross in Ukraine, Friar Stanisław KAWA, visited the friaries in Ukraine.
They first visited the friary in Mats’kivtsi, located near Khmelnytskyi, close to the southern border of the country. While there, they met with volunteers, soldiers and members of the Peace and All Good Foundation. In addition, the Provincial Custos and the Guardian, Friar Janusz NOWAK, received decorations and thanks for their humanitarian and logistical assistance, and for their collaboration with various charitable organizations. The visitors continued on to the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, where a stone altar had been erected a few days earlier. During the Litany of All Saints, Friar Carlos placed the relics of Blessed Friar Carlos de Dios MURIAS into the altar. Blessed Carlos was a friar from Argentina who was martyred on July 18, 1976, and beatified on April 27, 2019.
On Holy Thursday, April 6, the Minister General and the Provincial Custos went to Kamyanets-Podilskyi where they met with the Most Reverend Leon DUBRAWSKI, OFM, Bishop of Kamyanets-Podilskyi, Ukraine. During their meeting, they signed an agreement regarding the parish of Mats’kivtsi, which has been entrusted to our Order for the last forty-nine years. The visitors next went to the Friars Minor friary in Zytomyr, where they celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and met with the Definitory of the Friars Minor Province of St. Michael the Archangel.
On Good Friday, the visitors arrived at the friary in Kremenchuk in eastern Ukraine, where they participated in the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion. While there, the Minister General blessed the newly made pews for the church and met with the friars of the local community.
On Holy Saturday, Friars Carlos and Stanisław visited the friary in Boryspil, in northern Ukraine. They participated in the Easter Vigil and met with the local friars.
On Easter Sunday, April 9, they traveled to the friary in Lviv, in western Ukraine. On the way, they visited the war sites of Bucha and Irpin. In the evening, friars from the Lviv community met with Friar Carlos for some recreation.
On Easter Monday, the Minister General and the Custos visited the Archbishop’s Palace in Lviv, where they met with the Most Reverend Edward KAWA, OFM Conv., Auxiliary Bishop of Lviv, Ukraine. In the evening, they took part in a Mass at the Shrine of St. Anthony.
Friar Stanisław PĘKALA, Custodial Secretary
