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Various aid organizations have expressed their condolences and support for Caritas as the Catholic charity organization mourns the death of two staff members and their relatives when its office in the southern Ukraine city of Mariupol was shelled by a tank.
"This dramatic news leaves Caritas family horrified and shocked. We join in grief and solidarity the suffering of the families and our colleagues of Caritas Ukraine who are living a tragedy", said Aloysius John, the secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, in a press release April 12.
It has been known only in the past few hours, but the tragic attack probably took place on the 15th of March, when a tank fired shots at the building of the Caritas center in Mariupol, killing the two staff members and five of their relatives, the Caritas statement read.
Presumably, Caritas staff and their family took refuge in the center during the shelling.
At this moment, due to the absence of communication with the city of Mariupol and the lack of access to the premises of the Caritas centre, Caritas Ukraine national office does not yet have sufficient elements to determine what happened and is still collecting information, it said.
"Caritas Internationalis reiterates its incessant appeal for peace, as we have been doing for 48 days now," said John.
"The 'martyrdom' in Ukraine, as Pope Francis has called it, must stop, and it must stop now. The international community must do the impossible to stop this massacre immediately," he said.
The deaths were first announced in a tweet on April 11 by Caritas-Spes, the charitable mission of the Latin Rite Catholic bishops of Ukraine, adding that the dead included two women staff members.
Caritas Ukraine and Caritas-Spes are two Ukrainian Caritas organizations present in the country and supported by 35 other Caritas bodies.
Vatican-based Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, president of Caritas Internationalis, decried the attack on a Caritas office in besieged Mariupol and emphasized the gratitude for those who, at the risk of their own lives, are helping the Ukrainian people.
"I feel deep sadness and shock at the news of the attack that led to the loss of lives. Caritas Internationalis expresses its profound sympathies and closeness to the families of those who lost their lives and were wounded. Our sadness turns into an appeal to the international community to exert every effort to bring this violence to an end, to return to dialogue, and to see a brother and sister in every person," he told Vatican News.
"We honor the sacrifice of humanitarian workers by praying for them and their families. We believe that God hears the cry of the poor and the just. We honor them by affirming the value of the service rendered by humanitarian organizations that must be respected. We honor them by praying to God and appealing to people of goodwill to think of and work for peace," Cardinal Tagle said.
Caritas organizations and others have also condemn the widespread violation of the international humanitarian law in several areas of Ukraine.
Responding to the killing of Caritas aid workers in Mariupol, Save the Children Ukraine Country Director Pete Walsh said he was "appalled" by the tragic deaths.
"As humanitarians and as human beings we stand with Caritas and send our sincere condolences to Caritas, CAFOD, and the families and friends of the deceased. Aid workers should never be a target and must be protected.
"This is sadly just one more day in this horrific war which has killed thousands and forced even more from their homes, including two thirds of the children in the country. We need to see an immediate end to this violence," Walsh said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Cordaid, an internationally operating emergency relief and development organization aiding those hit hardest by poverty and conflict, and which also belongs to the Caritas Internationalis network.
"We are deeply shocked. It looks like aid workers have become a direct target of Russian attacks", said Cordaid CEO Kees Zevenbergen. "Our prayers are with the deceased and their loved ones."
Since the beginning of the conflict, the two Caritas organizations present in Ukraine, Caritas Ukraine and Caritas-Spes Ukraine, have with the cooperation of the Caritas confederation, provided around 600,000 people with lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
"Caritas organizations in Ukraine and neighboring countries continue to provide life-saving assistance to the population in the country and to the refugees fleeing the war," said the president of Caritas Ukraine, Tetiana Stawnychy, who also asked for special attention in memory of the victims.
"We need your solidarity and prayers for the families of the victims, for the community of Caritas Mariupol, and the community of Caritas Ukraine," said Stawnychy.
Mariupol, a port city in southeastern Ukraine and once home to more than 400,000 people, was attacked by Russian forces on Feb. 24, the first day of the full-scale invasion of the country.
Ukrainian fighters continue to resist the Russian advance of the strategically located Mariupol, ahead of an anticipated massive onslaught across eastern Ukraine.
Relentless bombing has destroyed about 90 percent of the buildings and Vadym Boychenko, mayor of Mariupol has said that more than 10,000 civilians have died during the Russian siege of his city -- but believes the death toll so far could surpass 20,000 as corpses are "carpeted through the streets."
Russia is believed to be trying to connect occupied Crimea with Moscow-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas.
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