“The light of Christmas is so intense and so great that it rises above all difficulties, above any aggression and any bombing.” The Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, Visvaldas Kulbokas, offered this reflection after the Christmas Eve Mass at the Latin Cathedral in Kharkiv, where he stood alongside the Pope’s almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who serves as the Prefect of the Vatican’s Di-castery for Charity, as they celebrated the Christ Child’s birth despite the intense shelling end-ured by the city. This marks the second year that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine cele-brated Christmas on December 25th.
But most importantly, as the Nuncio noted, “Jesus was present, born for us. And when Jesus is born in a place under constant attack and bombardment, His light becomes even more visible, it shines brightly.” The Lord, he suggested, was still their light shining in the midst of darkness, as the readings from the Prophet Isaiah proclaim. “These,” Archbishop Kulbokas continued, “are words that resonate power-fully in these war-torn places, because it is precisely the light of joy and hope that Christmas brings us. Moreover, he stressed, “It prepares us for the Jubilee of the Holy Year, as we knew that, at that same moment in Rome, the Holy Father was opening the Holy Door.”
It was a beautiful and intense celebration, but also a night of attacks, with missiles and drones exploding near the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral. Yet, as the Nuncio noted, “Thanks be to God, the church remained intact for the Christmas Day Divine Liturgy. The glass and everything else was in place.” Despite the bombing of Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which left over 500,000 people without heating and water, Christmas was still celebrated.