Rome, May 20, 2014 (Zenit.org)
A Ukrainian Orthodox priest has been killed in the eastern part of Ukraine, another casualty in the country’s ongoing crisis. According to a report by the Religious Information Service in Ukraine, Father Pavlo Zhuchenk was killed by pro-Russian separatists in the Konstyantynivka (Donetsk region) region. The editor of Ostrov Serhiy Harmash said on his twitter account that the priest was living nearby and came out to calm down the fighters.
Following the tragedy, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk sent a message of condolence to the temporary head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. “Numerous bullets that caused the death of Christ[’s] cleric, wounded our hearts too,” he said, “and filled with new pain a cup of suffering that has been poured into our beloved homeland and our people, who with such great efforts and sacrifices struggle for their rights to dignity and free life in their own independent state.”
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Ukrainian Orthodox Priest Killed in Ukraine | ZENIT – The World Seen From Rome