Grynevych told CNA that he personally gave Pope Francis a copy of the station meditations in a private audience at the Vatican this week and asked him to read them and pray along.
“The Holy Father said, ‘Yes, I will read this. I will pray.’ And for me it felt that we opened our hearts before the pope,” he said.
Grynevych is the executive director of Caritas-Spes, a Catholic charity part of the Caritas Internationalis network that has provided food, shelter, protection, and health and psychological support to 3 million people in Ukraine in the past year.
The Ukrainian staff of Caritas-Spes have written meditations that tell their personal experiences of the war as well as the stories of the people they serve to unite their sufferings to Jesus. The meditations will be read in English. Between stations, volunteers will sing Ukrainian Lenten hymns.
While working to provide humanitarian aid within a war zone, Grynevych said he has personally found strength in prayer by reflecting on how Jesus continued moving forward after falling three times during the Way of the Cross.
“Yes, we are tired. Yes, we have many pains inside of us, but we have to continue because we cannot leave the field of social service and spiritual support. No, we have to continue because it is our mission … to continue to show the face of a merciful God in a time of war,” he said.