Solidarity Sunday

I was ready for church an hour earlier than usual this morning so I went out for a walk in Llandaff Fields. Several hundred people, mostly young families with children were gathered in one spot near the main road entrance, for what turned out to be a family Sunday 'Park Run' with prams, pushchairs, the lot. A notable number of children aged between four and seven were out with their parents - a cheering sight. I walked for three quarters of an hour and then drove to St German's to celebrate Mass for a congregation of thirty. We offered Mass with peace in Ukraine as our special intention.

After the service I got into conversation with a Slovakian man who occasionally attends, His homeland has a hundred mile stretch of border with Ukraine. Already he said, two thousand people from Ukraine had sought refuge there from the fighting. Overall numbers of refugees are estimated now to be 150,000, Poland bearing the brunt so far. There are many family connections across borders in Central and Eastern Europe which we may be hardly aware of, way out west. 

Fighting continues around major cities across Ukraine, but with no major aerial bombardment so far. The EU and UK have banned all Russian flights from their air space, and the SWIFT monetary transfer system on which all international monetary transactions relies is being closed to many major Russian financial institutions, though not all. The EU is approving the export of armaments to Ukraine, an unprecedented move, and there are calls to allow non-Ukrainian individuals to volunteer to fight with Ukrainian forces. 

Putin's military plan still hasn't delivered what it was expected to an provoked a global reaction which may have been a surprise to him. The trouble is, he is now making threats about using Russia's nuclear capability, a very serious escalation. Even if it leads to nothing, it suggests he may be losing his grip on the situation. Tonight there's talk of a meeting of Russian and Ukrainian government leaders on the border with Belarus, probably talks about talks to start with. Will witnesses be allowed? Will there be international mediators? Starting with trust so utterly violated, it's hard to see what can come out of this.

After lunch we drove to the Millennium Centre for the WNO's afternoon performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. It was beautifully performed by a well chosen ensemble of leading singers, but what was most memorable about the occasion was having Don Giovanni played by Andrei Kimach, the Ukrainian baritone who won Cardiff Singer of the World in 2019, a fine performer with an international career already. When his presence in the cast was announced before curtain up, the audience clapped in support for a couple of minutes. The curtain call at the end turned into a standing ovation for him and the cast. I was moved to tears by this outpouring of sympathy. And we've seen the same at sports matches across the country as well today.

We got home in good time for supper and to watch the last episode of 'Trigger Point', with the inevitable surprise twist right at the end. We're promised another series next year.. More shock and awe I suppose.