ADDED to worldwide prayers for peace in Ukraine are the prayers being offered in one parish in Cairns, North Queensland.
Polish priest Fr Dariusz Osinski said he is in constant prayer for war torn Ukraine and for the refugees flowing across the border into the country of his birth.
The congregation in Fr Osinski’s Northern Beaches parish are joining him in prayer during Mass, and adoration throughout the day.
“There is constant prayer in my parish here in Cairns,” he said.
“It is a dreadful situation, a big injustice over there.
“These people really live in peace, they want to live in peace and that is what has been drastically taken from them.”
Fr Osinski completed his studies in Poland with priests who were later sent to parishes in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and other parts of the country.
He has sent messages to those priests, but has received no answer yet.
“Nothing is coming back to me,” Fr Osinski said.
“I spoke with my family in Poland and there are a lot of refugees – it is heartbreaking to see all these women, children and older people walking across the border.
“People are opening their houses for the refugees. A lot of parishes in my home diocese are opening their facilities for the refugees.
“My sister said childcare is becoming available for the families and children.”
Fr Osinski described central Europe’s current conflict and chaos as “waking up demons from the past”.
“There’s fear amongst the people that this conflict will spread, that it will go further,” he said.
“They just don’t know what the next few days will bring for them.
“Ukrainians are proud people and they want to defend their country, their home.
“So you can see them walking on the street, blocking tanks, holding their flags and saying ‘Glory to Ukraine’, which is their way of manifesting their own nationality, their own independence.”
