Ukrainian pastor says he never expected pope to share his letter

LVIV, Ukraine (CNS) -- When the Rev. Hennady Mokhnenko, a pastor and bishop of the Pentecostal Church of God of Ukraine, wrote to Pope Francis, he never expected the pope to share his letter at the Vatican.

The pastor and chaplain from Mariupol, Ukraine, is the founder and head of the nation's largest rehabilitation center for children, and he runs a network of such centers for adults.

During the early days of the war, his center for troubled teens in Mariupol came under heavy fire, so he evacuated them and later managed to evacuate more than 1,200 Mariupol residents.

"I became aware of the vital role of Pope Francis in the exchange of prisoners and the returning of our Ukrainian defenders. And when I realized the great work that the pope is doing for Ukraine, I just wanted to thank the pontiff for supporting us," he told Catholic News Service in early December.

Rev. Mokhnenko said his friend Denis Kolyada, a graduate of the Ukrainian Catholic University, gave his letter to the pope.

"Two days later, which was very unexpected for me, Pope Francis quoted this letter in his speech."

Pope Francis quoted the letter Nov. 2, during a memorial Mass for bishops and cardinals who had died in the previous year.

In his homily in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope said he had just received a letter from a Protestant chaplain at a children's home in Ukraine.

"Children orphaned by war, children who are alone, abandoned. And he said: 'This is my service: accompanying these discarded (children) because they have lost their parents; the cruel war has left them on their own.' This man does what Jesus asks of him: caring for the least in the tragedy. And when I read that letter, written with so much pain, I was moved, and I said, 'Lord, it is evident that you continue to inspire the true values of the kingdom.'"

Later, the pastor said, Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia invited him to Zaporizhzhia.

"He and I are currently working on various front-line issues, and our base is here in Zaporizhzhia," the minister said.

Rev. Mokhnenko said Bishop Sobilo told him Pope Francis had instructed him to send aid to the front.

"We received many food items for people living on the front lines. Every day, under fire, my commanders get to the red zones, to the front. Besides food supplies, we received significant financial aid from the pope for my chaplaincy and Protestant team. It was very unexpected," said Rev. Mokhnenko.

"I could never have imagined that a provincial pastor somewhere on the Ukrainian front would receive such a reaction from the pontiff. I understand that not many Ukrainians have information about the pope's role in the exchange of prisoners, so I would advise them to be very careful with criticism, because this priest -- the leader of the Catholic Church -- is doing an important thing. If he doesn't understand something the way we do, that's normal, for it's all dialogue. It's communication. He hears the voice of Ukrainians when there is direct communication, which is very important."