“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” —Ezekiel 36:26
“So Germany technically declared war on Russia, just another Wednesday I guess.” —A tweet today on the internet from “War Monitor” (link) following remarks made yesterday by Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock (see also link), during a Tuesday debate at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) amid discussions over sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
“The world is at war. For me, today, World War III has been declared.” —Pope Francis, May 19, 2022 (link)
“What is happening to humanity that we have had three world wars in a century?” —Pope Francis, Ibid.
“It is clear to everyone that no one has anything to gain if the war in Ukraine escalates into a global conflict.” —Michael Laitman, Founder and president of Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute, writing in The Times of Israel, June 26, 2022 (link)
“If I had a hammer… I’d hammer out a warning.” —Peter, Paul and Mary, “If I had a hammer” (link and link)
“The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God.” —Catechism of the Catholic Church, Par. 27 (link)
***
Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
Letter #30, 2023 Wednesday, January 25: The front
Yesterday I wrote that, in the present circumstances, we need to turn to the Holy Spirit… to invoke the Holy Spirit.
I then told a simple little story about something that happened to me a decade ago: I was in an empty chapel in the Vatican, in the Domus Santa Marta, where Pope Francis lives (I was an invited guest at Christmastime), when, on December 27, 2013, for the first time, Emeritus Pope Benedict came to greet Pope Francis in his home, and the two came into the chapel to pray, together, as I sat there trying to stay away from them and not disturb them.
They stood behind me and prayed.
Above the altar in that chapel are the opening words in the prayer to the Holy Spirit, in Latin (yes, there is still some Latin in the Vatican):
Veni Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium
[“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful”]
What is the Holy Spirit? The Church teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Most Holy Trinity.
That spirit, that ultimate immaterial power, that everlasting Person, who is the source of life, and who can alone bring peace and new life after the tragedies of betrayal, bloodshed, war, hatred, and death.
And, it seemed to me, those were the words that, quietly, haltingly, in a whisper, surrounded by silence, the two men dressed in white, standing about five feet away from me on December 27, 2013, with no one else present, prayed…
***
On the war
We are now in the 12th month of the terrible war in Ukraine.
And signs, signs yesterday, signs today, are that the war will likely widen.
At the same time, there are no signs of any serious initiative to negotiate a ceasefire and an end to the conflict.
So we mourn, we pray, and we take to heart the warning Pope Francis has made, that we are on the eve of, or already in, World War III. (link)
We mourn the death of tens of thousands, not knowing how many have really been killed and wounded, but knowing that the numbers, on each side, reaches in to the tens of thousands. (link)
Norway’s Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen said on January 21 (four days ago) that “Russian losses are beginning to approach around 180,000 dead or wounded soldiers.” (link)
He added: “Ukrainian losses are probably over 100,000 dead or wounded. In addition, Ukraine has about 30,000 civilians who died in this terrible war.”
These are his estimates; there are many other, and very different, figures being proposed on the internet. (You can find them by looking…)
But these are figures given by someone who is an authoritative source:
Russia: 180,000 dead and wounded
Ukraine: More than 100,000 dead and wounded
Ukrainian civilians: 30,000 dead
The total (and the figures may be less, but may be even more):
310,000 dead and wounded.
***
Meanwhile, millions upon millions who have fled Ukraine (UN estimates say between 7 and 9 million people have left the country, link).
***
Madness yet reality
We mourn with those who mourn: for the dead and wounded sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, friends and brothers and sisters, whose bodies have been injured or crippled, torn apart and burnt, or by other means harmed and killed, by the thousands upon thousands.
This is horrible and it is madness.
But it is also the reality.
***
The war before the war
Prior to the present war, launched on February 24, 2022, there were tensions, suspicions, and artillery shelling along the entire line between Donbass and the rest of Ukraine.
This was not an open war involving hundreds of thousands of troops, but it was a simmering war involving tens of thousands of troops.
Between 2014 and 2022, during eight years (that is, about 3,000 days, since 8 years x 365 days a year = 2,920 days, just about 3,000 days), the tensions between the rebels in Donbass (backed by Russia) and the rest of Ukraine resulted in the death of some 13,000 people, including many Donbass civilians.
That is an average of between 4 and 5 people every day for 8 years (2920 days).
Here are the statistics (all of the following in italics is from this UN report, link):
“The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights unveiled the data on Donbass war casualties from April 14, 2014 to June 30, 2021.
[Note: Remember, this is before the start of the war, during the years 2014-2021.]
“The total number of casualties related to the conflict in Ukraine is 42,500-44,500 people,” the Office said in response to an inquiry from Radio Liberty.
“The casualties are categorized as follows:
- 13,200-13,400 people killed (at least 3,901 civilians, about 4,200 Ukrainian servicepersons, and about 5,800 Russian-backed militants)
- 29,600-33,600 people wounded (7,000–9,000 civilians, 9,800–10,800 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and 12,800–13,800 occupiers)
“In general, over the years of the war, civilians have accounted for 25-26% of the killed and wounded.”
These statistics bear witness to this fact: that there was a “pre-war” before the present war.
We all now say that the war began on February 24, 2022.
And that is true — that is when the Russian invasion occurred.
But during the entire eight years from 2014 to 2022, four or five people were being killed (on average) every single day.
In other words, there was a “pre-war” which was being fought for eight years.
***
The failed peace negotiations of 2014-2015
This is why there were already “peace negotiations” in 2014 and 2015, to end the “simmering war” before this present “terrible war” exploded.
Those negotiations were called “Minsk 1” and “Minsk 2” — talks that took place in Minsk, Belarus, in 2014 and 2015.
The 2014 Minsk Protocol, was drafted by Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with mediation by the leaders of France and Germany.
So, four countries, and a European institution.
The United States did not participate.
That 1st agreement was signed on September 5, 2014 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE and — without recognition of their status — by the then-leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).
The agreement aimed to implement an immediate ceasefire.
The agreement failed to stop the fighting.
So further talks were begun in Minsk, and a revised agreement, Minsk II, was signed on February 12, 2015.
This agreement included:
— a ceasefire
— withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line
— release of prisoners of war
— constitutional reform in Ukraine granting self-government to certain areas of Donbas while restoring control of the national border to the Ukrainian government
Fighting did subside following the agreement’s signing, but it never ended completely. Nor were the agreement’s provisions — to development a legal framework for a type of autonomy of the eastern provinces, for example — ever fully implemented.
On February 21, 2022, Russia officially recognized the DPR and LPR (the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics) as autonomous on February 21, 2022.
On February 22, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Minsk agreements “no longer existed,” blaming Ukraine, not Russia, for their collapse.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.
***
The front
War is a form of hell.
Putting metal pieces through the bodies of men, and women, burning men, and women, exploding men’s, and women’s, bodies, poisoning men, and women, terrifying children, and killing them.
This war should never have started.
And yet it did…
***
Here is an account — a literary one, not an actual personal testimony, — the work of an American writer attempting to empathize with a soldier at the front.
Note: I give the author’s name as Mike Kitchens though the essay is not signed; still, other pieces on the site, including poems, are signed Mike Kitchens, so I concluded that this piece was likely his as will; however, I am not sure. In any case, the eloquent writing below is another author’s powerful writing, not my own…—RM
***
Despair on the Steppes of Death (link)
January 17, 2023
By Mike Kitchens (link)
(This post, like the Eulogy to the Fallen Soldier, is to try and bring home the reality of what it’s got to be like on the cold battlefields of Eastern Europe and is published in the hope of getting enough people to understand that this slaughter needs to stop.)
I’m cold, hungry and so tired.
Naught to see but ravaged land and the frozen earth of this ditch in which I have suffered for too long.
Naught to see but the remains of my friends, some mostly whole, many more no longer anything but shredded body parts and bloodied limbs, bones and more blood than I ever dreamed could be shed.
Those of us who are still alive might as well be dead, too.
There is no hope here.
I imagine the guys who are firing on our positions are cold too.
They don’t know us, whether or not we hate them; most of us don’t, and they probably don’t hate us either, although there are some units in the rear that hate everyone on the field.
Those psychopaths even kill their own people, ostensibly to get them to fight, but some especially evil men simply kill for the pleasure of killing, doesn’t matter whom.
Everyone knows of them – and they relish the notion that they are feared.
There is a special place in hell for them.
There’s also a special place in hell for the people who profit, in any way, from this murderous undertaking.
Even the “bible believing” stockholders of the many “defense” contractors of the countries responsible for this.
If someone were to ask why we are here, there wouldn’t be many of us who could say.
I have my own notions, but not for sure.
We don’t get paid to know the politics; we simply get coordinates and fire our weapons.
We don’t know if we hit our target, or who we kill.
Did our bullets find young men who were alive – just beginning their lives, with the hopes and aspirations of all young men?
Were they killed instantly, or do they lie suffering in pain and horror, as they succumb to that eternal sleep?
Even in these damnable trenches, we hear of the destruction wreaked all around this country.
Many civilian people who have nothing to do with this war suffer immensely.
Mothers continually pray to God that their sons might survive; heartbroken, realizing that in all likelihood they will never see them again on this side.
I’ve been praying ever since I arrived at this corner of hell that God will see fit to spare my life, but I don’t hold much hope for that — there’s just too much death here for me to actually believe I’ll survive.
Maybe I won’t — I’d just like to get it over with, one way or another.
This abominable waiting for the end is another hell of its own, and no one but us guys in the trenches know what it’s like.
Maybe if more regular people knew; someone, somewhere, would help get this madness stopped before all of us die.
The ice-cold dark water in these holes is unbearable.
It’s filthy, with blood and waste, and we wade in it, freezing our feet.
Our clothes are wet, most of us are bleeding from untreated wounds, which will no doubt become infected.
What a dismal situation we are in, when we consider ourselves fortunate, even though we lose our feet to frostbite, just to remain alive.
We keep our eyes and ears open for incoming rounds and it’s exhausting, the drugs help to keep us awake, but after a while, we become zombified, mindlessly pursuing and performing our mission of death.
Of course, that’s what the leaders want. As much death as evil men can bring about.
It’s the ultimate conundrum when a man gets so tired of trying to survive, he starts to pray for death.
[End, essay from the front]
***
Last word
This war is nearly a year old, it has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands, and all signs seem to indicate that the war is not ending, but about to ratchet up and expand.
Let us pray:
Veni Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium.
[“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful”]
et tui amóris in eis ignem accénde.
[“and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.“]
Emítte Spíritum tuum, et creabúntur. Et renovábis fáciem terræ.
[“Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.”]
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