Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, paid an official visit to Lviv.
This is reported by CREDO.
The representative of Pope Francis met with the mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi. Together with Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, he also visited some Roman Catholic parishes in Lviv.
At noon on December 24, the Apostolic Nuncio visited the Albertine brothers ' House of Mercy on Zboishchi to pray with the residents of the shelter on Christmas Eve and share a festive dinner with them.
During prayers in the chapel, Archbishop Viswaldas Kulbokas focused the attention of those present on the fact that the Savior is born as a small child and also needs care and protection. Little Jesus is taken care of by Mary and Joseph, and so are we.
"Today we have gathered to thank the Lord for our lives, for having food. We also want to ask that we can help ourselves in return. We also humbly ask for faith, which will become love, hope and happiness, courage and inspiration. Let us pray for all those who are suffering now, for peace for Ukraine, but before that, we ask the Lord to forgive us our sins," the nuncio said.
After the prayer, the Metropolitan of Lviv and the Apostolic Nuncio shared a symbolic wafer with the audience and shared a meal with those in need.
Brother Marek, one of the three brothers involved in the men's shelter, said that such Christmas dinners for the poor and homeless have been held every year since Christmas 2017: "We are glad that today we will have such distinguished guests as the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine and our metropolitan, who once invited us to Lviv and actually initiated the foundation of this House of Mercy. Now we serve all those in need, as St. Brother Albert did a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, this year we can't invite everyone who comes to us every day for a hot lunch. Due to the epidemiological situation, only permanent residents of our shelter will be at the vigil table today – a total of 45 people. Fortunately, we have many benefactors who helped us organize this festive dinner. We got fish, borscht, and other traditional dishes for Christmas Eve thanks to a collection organized by the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Lviv. This is very important and necessary help for us, without it it would be difficult. Therefore, we are grateful to everyone who supports us both here in Lviv and abroad, and to everyone who helps us throughout the year. Thank you to our Metropolitan, thank you to the director of the Caritas-Spes mission of the Lviv Archdiocese, all the people of good will who share clothes and food with us, as well as support us financially. We hope that there will be more such people and we will be able to help even more people in need."
Pope Francis' representative in Ukraine gave everyone a sweet gift, and Metropolitan Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokshytsky of Lviv thanked the brothers and sisters of St. Albert and volunteers for serving the poor and needy.
On the evening of December 24, the Apostolic Nuncio led the pastoral service in the Metropolitan Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lviv. And on December 25, he celebrated the Nativity of the Lord — Christmas Mass.