Ukrainian President Zelenskyy honors Dominican Sister Lucía Caram for war relief efforts

(OSV News) -- Dominican Sister María Lucía Caram Padilla was awarded the Order of Princess Olga, III class, by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for her efforts in providing humanitarian aid and support since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

During his official visit to Madrid Nov. 18, Zelenskyy met with Sister Lucía, director of the Santa Clara Convent Foundation, along with Juan Carlos Cruz, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and a supporter of Sister Lucía's humanitarian work.

Presenting her with the civil decoration, Zelenskyy thanked the Argentine nun and expressed his gratitude for her service in aiding those in need.

"You have visited my home country more than 40 times since the very beginning of the Russian aggression," the Ukrainian president said. "And each time, I know you leave a piece of your heart, you pray, you help our warriors undergoing treatment, and you provide substantial humanitarian assistance. We are truly grateful."

In a telephone interview Nov. 19, Sister Lucía told OSV News that "the recognition, more than for me, is for all the people who have helped me to be able to do what we have done."

During his meeting with Sister Lucía and Cruz, she recalled, Zelenskyy spoke about the current situation and "how Russia is taking region by region and destroying the infrastructure, mainly so people will be cold and without electricity."

Sister Lucía said the meeting with Zelenskyy "was a very heartwarming moment" and that he was "very receptive, very grateful, and at the same time very communicative about the reality his country is experiencing."

"I saw him as a strong leader, but it is clear that he is very concerned about the direction the war is taking and that there is no end in sight. I think this is what worries us all the most," she added.

Zelenskyy's one-day visit to Spain was part of his efforts to rally support from allies as Russia continued its relentless assault on Ukraine.

According to The Associated Press, Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones Nov. 18 on two nine-story apartment blocks in Ternopil, located in western Ukraine, just 120 miles from the country's border with Poland.

An estimated 25 people, including three children, were killed when Russian drones and missiles decimated the area, and dozens of people, among them children, were injured, AP reported.

Sister Lucía told OSV News she receives news and updates on the situation in Ukraine "that the media doesn't report" and urged European leaders to recognize the looming threat of war in their countries.

"We want Europe to know that we have a war in Europe, that Ukraine is defending the borders of Europe and democratic values, and that we cannot look the other way," she said. "It is the responsibility of all to stop this madness."

Regarding the attack on Ternopil, Sister Lucía lamented that while Russia's attack was "a brutality," such attacks are a daily occurrence across Ukraine.

"Every day, there are wounded, every day there are dead, every day, they destroy civilian areas. But the carnage on the front is also tremendous. War is madness, and the only thing we want is for this to end," she said.

Sister Lucía told OSV News that Zelenskyy expressed his concern to her and Cruz about "the more than 20,000 children who are missing, who are in captivity, or who have been given up for adoption, and whose whereabouts are unknown."

Cruz, who has accompanied Sister Lucía on several of her humanitarian visits to Ukraine, told OSV News Nov. 19 he spoke to Zelenskyy about his efforts in helping protect children who were kidnapped by Russian forces.

The president, he said, invited him to connect with his wife, first lady Olena Zelenska, who runs a foundation that supports Ukrainian children impacted by the war.

"I'm really looking forward to starting something with helping children, on top of all the things we do," Cruz said.

In a video of the meeting Zelenskyy posted on X, Cruz can be seen presenting the Ukrainian president with an image of Mary, Undoer of Knots.

Cruz told OSV News that the image was given to him by the late pontiff, who had a particular devotion to the Marian image, and gave it to Zelenskyy because "obviously, his knots are quite bigger than mine."

"I told him that I know that Pope Francis loved him, and he said that he loved him, too," Cruz said. "I told him that I felt Pope Leo was going to be as supportive as Pope Francis, and I wanted to give him this -- that meant so much to me -- to him, because I admire what he's doing for his country. I see it every time I go there. It's just heartbreaking."

Cruz noted that Pope Leo's papacy began with the words, "Peace be with you," and highlighted the Catholic Church's need to continue defending life in all its aspects, particularly in war, the death penalty and the defense of migrants.

Sister Lucía's humanitarian efforts in Ukraine began shortly after the invasion began. However, the Argentine nun, who lives in Spain, began assisting Ukrainian families arriving in the country following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

After Russia launched its war in 2022, Sister Lucía said she and several others drove a van to Ukraine and "brought six people, mothers and children, and from there we opened 40 humanitarian corridors."

Since then, she told OSV News, they have helped 4,000 people who fled the war, and in April 2022, "we began to bring wounded people to Spain."

The Santa Clara Convent Foundation, which she runs, has also delivered ambulances and pickup trucks and set up field hospitals near the front lines of the conflict.

"We go practically every month and a half, and we continue to bring the wounded. And when they have recovered, we return them to the country," Sister Lucía said. "This is a little bit of what we are doing and what we will continue to do as long as we have resources and until the much-desired peace that we all ardently wish for arrives."

Sister Lucía told OSV News that in June, she received a call from Pope Leo XIV and met with him Aug. 28.

"He wanted to know the situation in Ukraine. He knew that Pope Francis supported me. He listened a lot, and I saw he was very concerned about the situation," she said.

Pope Leo, she added, "continued Pope Francis' tradition of giving me rosaries to take to the wounded and those on the front line. He is very concerned and eager to collaborate."

"I am sure that (Pope Leo) will continue along the same line as Francis in denouncing this invasion and working for peace," Sister Lucía said.