Music From a City Under Siege: A Song of Faith

Dear Editor: Greetings from Nova Opera! 

We have prepared a new composition that I wanted to share. It was written in Lviv during the first month of the Russian invasion. 

At that time, all the sculptures in the city were wrapped in sandbags to protect them from the blast waves. Churches began to be evacuated: altars were partially dismantled, and the most valuable relics were preserved, sometimes simply by wrapping them in several layers of fabric or covering them with wooden boards.  

This is a story about how people, with their own hands, tried to protect what they could not evacuate: the faces of history, the images of saints, and the symbols of our culture. 

During the war, Ukrainians learned to pray not only in churches — many of them were damaged or destroyed. Basements, shelters, metro stations, corridors, and bathrooms became our “churches.”  

This is what this music is about. 

I hope the power of art can help bring peace closer and ensure that a situation like this never happens again. 

With gratitude for your support of Ukraine. 

Andrii Koshman 

Lviv, Ukraine 

Editor’s note: Andrii Koshman, a member of the Nova Opera from Ukraine, performed during a concert at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Flatbush, where Father Michael Perry, who is Ukrainian-American, was formerly the pastor.

Thank You For Covering Our Interfaith Advocacy

Dear Editor: We are deeply grateful for The Tablet’s excellent and thoughtful coverage, and will share it widely (“Interfaith Coalition Displays Gaza Children’s Memorial: ‘We Need to Care for Them’ ”).    

We received considerable coverage, but The Tablet was the only one to showcase the interfaith nature of the Gaza Children’s Shroud.

The shroud now begins traveling across the country, spending a week at a time in different cities. We think of the shroud as a new kind of encampment — a children’s encampment.  

It moves from city to city, spending one to two weeks with communities reading the 20,000 names over many days and creating learning and interfaith activities.   

Thank you again for helping carry their names into the world.

Anne Habiby

Gaza Children’s Shroud

Eagerly Awaiting Bishop Cahill’s Arrival to the Diocese of Joliet

Dear Editor: Praying for all of the parishioners of the Diocese of Victoria, Texas, who will miss Bishop Brendan Cahill while waiting for their next bishop (“USCCB Migration Chair Named New Bishop of Joliet, Ill.”).  

We were sad when Bishop Ronald Hicks (now the archbishop of New York) left the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, and prayed for a good replacement.  

Bishop Cahill looks amazing and we look forward to embracing him. 

Gina Holcomb Chapman  

Marseilles, Illinois, via social media  

Editor’s note: Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Brendan Cahill as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, on Sept. 17. Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York served as the sixth bishop of Joliet from 2020 to 2026.