UKRAINE (ACN News): Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv says he is dismayed at the rising number of broken families in the Ukraine, and in particular the growing problems of “euro-orphans”: children who stay behind in the Ukraine when their parents go to the West to earn money.
In a discussion with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), he also said the divorce and abortion figures were high.
He said the lack of emotional security under which children were suffering leads to numerous problems, including increased drug abuse.
Archbishop Mokrzycki, formerly secretary to the late Pope John Paul II, explained that many people were disoriented following the fall of atheistic communism, and many of them sought the aid of soothsayers or astrology. However, he emphasised, they are seeking something.
“The people in the East are religious by nature. They cross themselves when they walk past a church,” Archbishop Mokrzycki said.
“But many never learned the deeper truths of the faith.”
He said it was gratifying that many young people, particularly students, were taking part in Church encounters, because they wanted to “lead good lives, recognise God’s presence in their lives and find inner peace”.
For the Year of Faith announced by Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Mokrzycki reported that the Church was planning numerous initiatives in Lviv archdiocese to strengthen the faith, including walking pilgrimages.
He said there was a great need for such pilgrimages, as the faithful “like to pray and sing”, and do not regard these pilgrimages as “adventure outings”.
The entire year was to be devoted to deepening the faith.
