The five-hour assault, in which Russia fired more than 315 drones, was “one of the biggest” strikes on Ukraine’s capital in the three-year war, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi said a blast damaged the cornice on the main apse of the cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which serves as the mother church of all Christians who trace their roots to ancient Rus, Catholics and Orthodox.

Grand Prince Volodymyr of Kyivan Rus’ accepted Christianity in its Byzantine form in the 10th century. Construction of the cathedral began in the 11th century.

“Last night’s massive drone attack — the largest of the war — struck at the heart of Ukraine: the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, also known as St. Sophia,” said Metropolitan Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

“This sacred place has withstood invasions and communist persecution for a thousand years,” he continued. “Like Notre Dame in Paris, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, St. Sophia holds unique spiritual symbolism and moral significance for the nation.”

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and relentless daily bombings spare nothing and no one,” he said, noting the killing of innocent civilians. More than 4,000 schools and nearly 1,600 medical facilities and 236,000 residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed in this war, he reported.

Since the war began in February 2022, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, or CNEWA, has partnered with church groups in Ukraine, including the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Caritas Ukraine, Ukrainian Catholic University and religious communities to provide food, medical care, shelter and psychological support, distributing more than $3.5 million in aid.

CNEWA, established in 1926 by Pope Pius XI to support the Eastern churches, administers the Pontifical Mission, which was founded as the Pontifical Mission for Palestine by Pope Pius XII in 1949 to care for Palestinian refugees. The mandate of the mission, which was subsequently placed under CNEWA’s direction, has been extended by several pontiffs to care for all those affected by war and poverty in the Middle East.

Archbishop Gudziak called for “those who understand” to pray for “a just, lasting peace” that “guarantees the safety of innocent people, the protection of their churches, their identity, and way of life, and the return of tens of thousands of abducted children.”

The Ukrainian Council of Churches also issued a statement condemning the attack on the cathedral and appealing to “the entire civilized world to take all necessary measures to stop the barbarism perpetrated by the Russian Federation.”

“Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, 670 churches and houses of worship have been destroyed or damaged,” they wrote. “Sixty clergy members from various churches and religious organizations have been murdered by Russian invaders. Many priests and pastors have been illegally arrested and held in Russian captivity.”

In Russian-occupied territory, “severe religious persecution continues,” including “unlawful arrests and imprisonments of clergy from different confessions, the seizure of religious buildings for military and administrative use by the occupying forces, the closure of churches and prayer houses, total control over religious life, and attempts to manipulate it to support the occupation.”

Vadym Kyrylenko, first deputy director general of the site, said the cathedral would be inspected and repaired. He said it was the first time the cathedral had been damaged during the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022. In 2023, UNESCO put the cathedral on a list of endangered World Heritage sites because of the threat of the Russian offensive.

Odesa’s governor said the administrative building of an emergency medical station was “completely destroyed,” according to Euronews, and a maternity hospital was damaged in the Russian attack.

A day earlier, Russia launched nearly 500 drones and 20 missiles at targets primarily in central and western Ukraine. Russia claimed the attacks were retaliation for the June 1 Ukrainian drone strikes that targeted several Russian air bases.

Shortly after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Catholic News Service reported the Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Kyiv-Halych and the Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See said they had received information that Russia planned air strikes on the cathedral.

At that time, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych had called on all Christians to pray for the holy site and had urged Russia “to refrain from this most horrific act of vandalism.”

“May St. Sophia — the wisdom of God — illumine those who have considered committing this crime,” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said.

The UNESCO World Heritage site says the cathedral “has preserved its ancient interiors, and the collection of mosaics and frescoes of the 11th century is unique for its integrity.”‘

By Barb Fraze | OSV News

Father Mark first began serving the parish when he was ordained a deacon in April 2021. After his ordination as a member of the Order of Friars Minor that December, he was assigned to the parish as a priest in June 2022. 

Formed in the Faith 

Cebu City has a population of nearly 800,000 and is the capital of the Province of Cebu, which has 168 islands and islets. Father Mark grew up in the island-province of Siquijor, located near Cebu. 

He describes his family as “very challenged.” His father was a bus driver; his mother was a teacher by profession but stayed home to care for their children. Mark Anthony was the oldest; he had a younger sister, and their younger brother died when he was 2 days old. 

“Life in Siquijor is very tough,” he says. “Our family had to learn how to maximize the salary of my father.” Father Mark says he was raised “in a very Catholic family in a very Catholic neighborhood.” His mother was devoted to St. Anthony of Padua, which is why Father Mark’s middle name is Anthony. Their home had a small altar to St. Anthony, and they celebrated his feast every June 13. 

Although his parents were not active in the local parish, their neighbors took young Mark to weekly Mass, Holy Week, and Christmas liturgies. 

“That formed my faith when I was younger,” he says. 

Learning the Franciscan Way of Life 

Father Mark attended a public elementary school but went to a diocesan Catholic high school. Nearby was a Poor Clare monastery, where he was introduced to the international organization Franciscan Youth. 

“That was the start of the enticement to enter into religious life,” he says. 

The youth group often joined in the liturgical celebrations at the Poor Clare monastery, and it was there that he encountered members of the Order of Friars Minor. Sometimes, he says with a laugh, he used to wonder, “Is there another organization called the Order of Friars Major?” 

The Poor Clares introduced him to the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare, and, at age 16, he entered the seminary. When he was assigned to San Vicente Ferrer Parish, in an urban work community near hospitals, universities, and shopping malls, “I tried my best to implement in the parish what I learned in my theology days,” he says. 

Like many large parishes, San Vicente was subdivided into chapels, where people would attend Mass. But, over the years, some of the chapels were demolished because of development or road-widening projects, and people lost some of their Catholic identity. They would say, “We cannot celebrate Mass anymore because we don’t have a chapel.” 

But using the model of a basic ecclesial community—smaller groups of Catholics who come together for prayer, reflection, and action—Father Mark suggested the parish begin offering Masses in open spaces, an idea he learned from Franciscans stationed in missions. He said the idea was that, as long as an area had space for a Mass, the friars would celebrate it. “Usually we celebrate on the sidewalks,” he says. 

Small Communities Within the Parish 

Mass is the starting point for the opening of the basic ecclesial community. Then come the weekly Bible sharing, services such as feeding programs, or monthly cleanup drives in response to Pope Francis’ call to action in his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. 

When the parish began the Masses, the friars formed teams with laypeople, who were able to lay the groundwork in their neighborhoods. After the Masses and base communities were established, local parishioners elected a leader, and that person became a member of the parish pastoral council. 

“I can say that it’s working because, for example, there are places here in our parish where people thought they belonged to another parish” until outdoor Masses were held in their areas, says Father Mark. “We have new volunteers helping us in running the parish church,” and people have joined the pastoral council from about 35 different places. “We are many now.” 

In addition, Father Mark has collaborated to help with renovations to the main parish church. The church now has a new sanctuary, new sound system, and a new tile floor. “But we kept the pews, because the pews are still good,” he says. Many in the parish are young. Most are renters who work or study in the area for most of the year, then return home for several months. 

Father Mark got the chance to return to his home last August for the feast of St. Clare. He was able to celebrate a novena Mass at the monastery and visit with his family, calling it “a time to recharge, a time to revisit my roots.” 

He says he hopes St. Francis is happy with the work being done at San Vicente Ferrer. As much as St. Francis was a man of the poor, says Father Mark, “we are trying our very best to be with those who are considered existentially poor in our context.”