On August 14, Vislvaldas Kulbokas, the Titular Archbishop of Martana, who was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine on June 15, was ordained as a bishop at the Cathedral Church of St. Stanislaus and Vladislav.
The ordination ceremony was led by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Apostolic See.
The festive mass was attended by Metropolitan Mieczyslaw Mokrzytsky, Acting Chairman of the conference of the episcopate of Ukraine, and Bishop-ordinary of the Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia Pavlo Honcharuk.
As RISU has reported, on the eve of being elevated to the episcopal rank, the new nuncio, in an interview with the Lithuanian edition of Vatican Radio – Vatican News, said that "he does not experience any particular anxiety about serving in Ukraine, but understands that it is a responsibility and a greater burden on his shoulders."
According to the nuncio, this appointment is due to the fact that he is well acquainted with the situation in the country. After all, working from 2012 to 2020 in the Department of the State Secretariat for Relations with States, he dealt with issues of this particular part of the world, so he knows about both the political and ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine, which he calls "very rich, but also very, very difficult."
While commenting on the ordination event director of the Department of religious and ethnic affairs of the Ministry of culture Andrey Yurash said:
"I sincerely believe that Pope Francis, who was born 47 years ago in Lithuania and is well aware of the situation in the region as well as in our country, in particular, will join as much as possible in establishing relations between Ukraine and the Apostolic capital and will do everything possible to ensure that the Roman First Hierarch, the 266th successor of the Apostle Peter, will realize his apostolic visit as soon as possible."