Belarus Bishop Holds Mass for Chernobyl Victims on 35th Anniversary

Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz conducted a Mass on April 25 marking the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

A memorial bell was rang 35 times in remembrance of all the people who died or suffered health problems after the April 26, 1986 nuclear disaster.

“It was the largest man-made disaster in human history. We feel its effects today,” Kondrusiewicz said.

“Our people, as well as others, especially neighboring Ukraine and Russia, have been fighting a radioactive pandemic for three and a half decades,” he said.

Thousands of people died as a result of the incident. The incident happened about six miles from the Ukraine border with Belarus.

Archbishop Kondrusiewicz thanked all the people who have been caring for the victims.

Caritas Belarus is one of the charitable groups that have been helping improve the health of some of the victims.

“The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the Chernobyl disaster turned the world upside down,” Kondrusiewicz said.

“We remember the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Chernobyl, Fukushima and other catastrophes, not to open unhealed wounds, but to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” he said.

Original Source