“A world in which children suffer has no future,” said the Head of the UGCC during the visit of the AUCCRO to the Vatican Pediatric Hospital
As part of its official visit to the Vatican, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) visited the Baby Jesus Paediatric Hospital. The leaders of churches and religious organizations met with its president Mariella Enok and saw the Ukrainian children staying there.
Welcoming the Ukrainian delegation, the president of the Hospital spoke about treating Ukrainian children before and after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Our hospital doors have always been open for children from Ukraine, especially those with severe oncological diseases that are not treated in Ukraine or are very expensive to treat. The first children arrived with severe injuries. We even organized military planes to take them to the Hospital, and a group of our doctors went to the border of Ukraine and Poland to provide the first necessary medical assistance.”
The total number of children undergoing or having already undergone treatment in this medical institution is 1,938. “Sometimes I think, if people in power listened to the voice of children, the world would be a much better place. I believe that children are not only victims but also war heroes. The kindness of their hearts can change the world,” said President Mariella Enok.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav thanked Mariella Enok for her long-term cooperation with the UGCC, which has continually contributed to the treatment of children with various severe illnesses in the “papal hospital,” regardless of the confessional or religious affiliation of their families. The Head of the UGCC also expressed gratitude for “the opportunity given to many seminarians and priests from Ukraine to serve alongside you, and be involved in social and pastoral support for both children and their families.”
The Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome
