Every day, Aleteia offers a selection of articles written by the international press about the Church and the major issues that concern Catholics around the world. The opinions and views expressed in these articles are not those of the editors.
Thursday 12 May 2022
1- French priest Patrick Desbois investigates Russian abuses in Ukraine
2- Lithuanian Catholics and Orthodox are worried about Russia
3- “Pontifexit”: the Roman papacy and the West
4- Sri Lankan priests, nuns play mediators to avert violence
5- A theological interpretation of Stephen King’s novels
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French priest Patrick Desbois investigates Russian abuses in Ukraine
Father Patrick Desbois is a French Catholic priest who is currently the scientific coordinator of the Babi Yar Memorial in Kyiv. For some time now, he has been accumulating evidence of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers. To do this, he collects, via Zoom, summaries of executions, testimonies of victims of rape and assault, as well as the stories of people whose relatives were injured or killed by Russian soldiers. Witnesses commit themselves to speak openly, providing personal data, their real identity, telephone number, and e-mail address. “These are people who wish with all their heart that the Russian killers be judged,” explains Father Desbois, who is not afraid to draw a parallel between these massacres and those perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews in this same region in 1941. It was after the repercussions of the discovery of mass graves in Bucha that the French priest embarked on this vast mission. “There are many cases like Bucha, unfortunately,” he adds, hoping that these testimonies will be used in future international judicial proceedings.