“As long as a person is alive, there is always hope, a desire to see things change for the better and believe that we can make a difference.” Speaking to Vatican News, Father Roman Ostrovskyy, Vice-Rector of the Greek-Catholic seminary in Kyiv, shares his reflections on the Bull “Spes non confundit,” with which Pope Francis recently proclaimed the upcoming Jubilee Year.
Father Roman is a biblical scholar, having studied biblical theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and now teaches in seminary. “I read the text of the bull carefully,” he says, “and found many beautiful and interesting themes. For example, an important passage is where the Holy Father says that the Christian life is a journey, and the goal of this journey, and also of the Jubilee Year, is the encounter with the Lord Jesus. Catholics and all Christians in Ukraine feel this protective presence of Jesus.”
“However,” he says, “on the other hand, we all see a tremendous growth in discouragement. We are in the third year of war, and people feel it deeply: they are tired, losing hope that things here can change for the better, that our voices will be heard.”
The young priest recounts that when full-scale war broke out in his country, there was much fear and confusion about what was happening. “But,” he emphasizes, “there was hope because Ukraine was defending itself strongly; some-thing was happening.”
“It is really difficult for us to think about tomorrow,” Fr Roman says. “In Ukraine, it is not realistic to plan more than a week in advance. Air raid sirens sound, adults and children hide in shelters… Everyone is waiting for what will happen next, which piece of land will be taken away. And the worst part is that we are not able to oppose it alone. Sometimes, it feels like we are being watched like a computer game, where it is interesting to see what happens, but no one wants to fully participate and help the people in need of simple assistance, and fundamentally, just stop the aggressor.”