Chicago archbishop: A lot of people in Ukraine want to do their best

Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich visited Ukraine for four days in June with Kurtz and bishops' conference staffers. He saidin an interview with NCR he remembered two key moments from the trip: a visit to a refugee camp in Kharkiv and a conversation he had with a man seeking medical treatment for an amputated arm.

The man, the archbishop said, had been trying to secure a visa to enter the U.S. to receive treatment at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Cupich said he had just been informed that the visa request was approved following a request from him and Kurtz to the U.S. ambassador.

"The trip was worth [it] just for that, getting that accomplished, having one thing done for one person," the archbishop said.

"There's a great deal of suffering," he said. "I think it's an untold story in terms of what is happening over there."

"A lot of people in Ukraine want to do their best," he continued. "Young people had their aspirations dashed because they thought that they were going to be able to have a prosperous life without interference from another government. It's been very, very difficult for them."