“They are suffering so much, they are hungry, they are cold and many are dying because there are not enough doctors and nurses,” the head of the Roman Catholic Church said.
Pope Francis urged people today to spend less on holidays and Christmas presents this year and to send the money they save for this purpose to Ukrainians to help them cope with hunger and the cold this winter.
The pope, who has made appeals for Ukraine at almost every public event since Russia invaded the neighboring country in February, made the appeal speaking off-text during Wednesday’s routine general audience.
“Brothers and sisters, I tell you, there is such suffering in Ukraine, so much,” he said, adding that he would like to draw attention to the particular problems Ukrainians will face in the coming months.
“It’s nice to celebrate Christmas, but let’s reduce the level of Christmas spending. Let’s have a humbler Christmas, with humbler gifts and send what we save to the Ukrainian people, who are in need,” Francis suggested, drawing applause from the gathered believers.
“They suffer so much, they are hungry, cold and many die because there are not enough doctors and nurses.”
The Roman Catholic patriarch’s remarks came as millions of civilians living in Europe’s worst conflict since World War II face power, heating and water cuts caused by Russian attacks on infrastructure as temperatures fall below from scratch.
“Let’s not forget. Christmas, yes. In peace with the Lord, yes. But with the Ukrainians in our hearts. Let’s make this particular gesture for them,” he said.
Francis spoke on the same day that the Ukrainian Catholic church in Rome, Hagia Sophia, made a fresh appeal to Italians to donate clothes and medicine that volunteers have been transporting to Ukraine in trucks since March.
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