“The Pope received a dove of peace painted on fragments of the glass of St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv. A Ukrainian artist presented Pope Francis with a dove of peace painted on a fragment of stained glass from the Church of St. Nicholas in Kyiv. The temple was damaged by a Russian attack on December 20, 2024.”, — write on: unn.ua
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It is noted that on the morning of December 24, on the way to Kharkiv, the head of the Dicastery for Mercy – Cardinal Konrad Kraevsky visited the Church of St. Nicholas.
He began his visit to the church with a prayer for a just peace in Ukraine and for the return of the parish church, the handover of which was announced by representatives of the Ukrainian authorities to Pope John Paul II in 2001.
Later, the cardinal, accompanied by the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, inspected the damage to the church caused by the Russian strike on Friday, December 20. In particular, he examined the fragments of glass from the facade of the church, which were preserved by the parish.
One of the parishioners of the church, the artist Yana Targonya, presented to His Holiness Father Francis a painting in the colors of the Ukrainian flag of a dove of peace, made on broken glass, with the inscription “a piece of stained glass, from the facade of the church of St. Nicholas on 12.20.2024.”
In turn, the head of the church’s rescue board of trustees, Yuriy Tandit, noted that this dove of the Ukrainian artist “is a part of our heart, which is full of love, suffering and drops of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
At the same time, the rector of the church, Father Pavlo Vyshkovskyi, said that despite the destruction, the festive Christmas services on December 24 and 25 will take place.
We will remind
As a result of a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, the church of St. Nicholas was damaged – the tower and stained glass windows of the church were damaged. As a result of the attack, one person died, about ten were injured.