Annual Report. PATRIARCHAL CURIA UGCC 2019

22 On July 5, in the Sala Bologna of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Francis received in audience the members of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Cath- olic Church. In his remarks to the UGCC leaders, Pope Francis acknowledged the "difficult and delicate situation" in Ukraine, which has suffered more than five years of war in its eastern regions. The Pope noted the so-called ‘hybrid’ nature of the conflict, "composed as it is of acts of war in which those responsible camouflage themselves; a conflict where the weakest and the smallest pay the highest price; a conflict aggravated by propagan- distic falsifications and by manipulations of various types, also in the attempt to involve in the religious aspect." Mi t ing wi th the Pope Franc i s in the Vat i can "I hold you in my heart" — Pope Francis The Holy Father assured the visiting prelates, "I hold you in my heart, and I pray for you, dear Ukrainian brothers." He said, too, that his prayer goes out for all those affected by the fighting: "I ask of the ‘God of all comfort’ to comfort the souls of those who have lost their loved ones due to the war; those who bear wounds in their body and in their spirit; those who have had to leave their home and work, and face the risk of searching a more human future elsewhere, far away."