Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk, the Ordinary of the Odessa-Simferopol Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, commented on Pope Francis's statement about the 'great Russian Empire' and its rulers. He recalled the deeds for which these rulers and the empire as a whole became infamous.
Below are the words of Bishop Stanislav in their entirety, as published by Radio Maria.
Today I had the opportunity to visit a state medical center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. A massive hospital, part of which was converted from a former prison dating back to the times of Catherine II," Bishop Stanislav recounted. "Nearby is the huge Lukyanivska pretrial detention prison: it was here that people were tortured for their Ukrainian stance or religious affiliation. There were countless such prisons!
On August 26th, I participated in the consecration of the Chapel of Martyrs for the Faith in the basement of St. Anna's Church in Polonne, where during the repressions of the 1937-1939 years, over 168 people were tortured, many of whom were bricked alive. And there are countless such places. Millions of Ukrainians were tortured for the 'Idea.'
The horrors of Bucha, Irpin, Chernihiv, and Izyum speak for themselves!
At least 3 sites of mass burials, with numbers ranging from 200 to 400(!) individuals. In each one!!!
In Kherson, after liberation, over 17 places of torture were discovered. The tortured and the disappeared have not yet been found.
All this is the true legacy of the 'great' Russia and its rulers, such as Peter I and Catherine II, or the bloodthirsty Nicholas II.
We should not forget the Oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible, to which the regime of Putin's Russia has joined, becoming part of this imperialistic legacy.
'We pray for the conversion of Russia,' - this is the plea of the Virgin Mary in Fatima.
Let us unite in prayer along with the entire Ukrainian people, bishops, and Holy Father Francis.