Photo by Andreea Alexandru grabbed from apnews.org.
The provincial of the Order of Carmelites in Poland is asking for prayers for the brothers who have decided to stay in Ukraine to help citizens affected by the war.
In a letter addressed to all brother Carmelites, Prior Provincial Fr. Wiesław Strzelecki revealed that he offered the brothers assigned in Ukraine to return to Poland, but they requested to remain because “they do not want to leave the people entrusted to them.”
“At this moment our Brothers are safe and sound but the situation is developing all the time,” he said in the letter.
He also revealed that the brothers shared that the people are panicking and there are food shortages at the moment.
“The Bishop calls for taking in the needy in Sąsiadowicze and sharing cellars as shelters, which we are prepared for,” he added.
The Polish province has two communities in Ukraine, in Sąsiadowicze and Włodzimierz Wołyński.
For his part, Philippine Prior Provincial Fr. Rico P. Ponce, O.Carm. calls on all friars, nuns, sisters, and lay Carmelites to include the people of Ukraine and Russia in their prayers.
“Let us pray for the conversion of the leaders of these countries, for peace to reign in their hearts,” said Fr. Ponce.
He added that this urgent humanitarian crisis in Ukraine will easily translate into a global crisis and as such, he said that in the tradition of Prophet Elias, the Carmelites should register its outright opposition against the war through whatever means available to them.
“Let us show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine by registering our opposition to this war through social media posts and through other means available to us,” he said while encouraging communities to also start discerning on ways to concretely help the victims of this war.
“For the meantime, let us heed the call of Pope Francis to make Ash Wednesday, March 2, ‘a day of prayer and fasting’ and offer our prayers for the safety of our Carmelite brothers in Ukraine and for all people in Ukraine,” he said.