Five months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) takes stock of the support sent to the country: over five million dollars in emergency aid and other initiatives to assist the Catholic Church in its aim to support its people.
Following initial immediate aid packages, ACN has pledged a further US$ 2.5 million over the past three months, from May to July to help the Church in Ukraine. With the approval of 34 new projects in July, support provided by ACN has reached US$ 5 million in 2022.
“Thanks to the help of ACN benefactors, priests and religious can offset shortages of food, and basic hygiene and medical products felt by many of the internally displaced people. Furthermore, they can provide psychological and spiritual support to all those who are traumatised from losing their homes or loved ones”, explains Heine-Geldern.
“We are in daily contact with the whole country”, adds Magda Kaczmarek, who has headed the foundation’s Projects in Ukraine for the past 14 years. “In this way we can identify the projects that the local Church considers to be a priority and be flexible in our monthly aid”.
“There is tremendous pain”, continues Kaczmarek, who visited Ukraine in April. “It was a very emotional experience. We met with refugees who did nothing but cry. It was important just to hug them. But there were also refugees who were completely dumbstruck. I remember one young man, who must have been around 30, who had not said one word since the war started.”
Some general pictures from Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhya-LAT diocese were received from Latin Bishop Pavlo Honcharuk. They depict the war during spring-summer 2022 and the work of the Catholic Church with the people during this period.
“We are in daily contact with the whole country”, adds Magda Kaczmarek, who has headed the foundation’s Projects in Ukraine for the past 14 years. “In this way we can identify the projects that the local Church considers to be a priority and be flexible in our monthly aid”.
“There is tremendous pain”, continues Kaczmarek, who visited Ukraine in April. “It was a very emotional experience. We met with refugees who did nothing but cry. It was important just to hug them. But there were also refugees who were completely dumbstruck. I remember one young man, who must have been around 30, who had not said one word since the war started.”
“The Church is the anchor that keeps the boat steady through the changing tides”, says Kaczmarek. “The main concern and fear that everybody feels has to do with the coming of winter, but now they are also worried that by the end of August the shortage of food and fuel will have become even more serious”, she explains.
Thanks to the generosity of ACN benefactors from all over the world, US$5 million worth of aid has been provided to several projects in the first 5 months of the war.
• US$ 3.2 million in emergency and subsistence aid, divided as follows:
- US$ 1.3 million sent to the ecclesiastical districts in Ukraine, right after the outbreak of the war, to offset the most urgent needs of the people.
- US$ 800,000 in aid to Ukrainian priests, in the form of mass stipends to cover subsistence costs, travel, and their pastoral and social work
- US$ 650,000 towards a total of 14 projects, to enable dioceses and religious orders to host internally displaced people in parishes, convents, seminaries, etc.
- US$ 450,000 for subsistence aid in 17 projects, especially for the male and female religious, and to support elderly or sick nuns
• US$ 1.1 million in 23 projects towards construction, restoration and refurbishing of buildings. This includes the purchase of 17 generators, and the repairs to the seminary in Vorzel on the outskirts of Kyiv, which was looted in the first phase of the war.
• US$ 600,000 to purchase 29 vehicles, a priority at this time, since humanitarian aid has to be transported long distances on roads that are in poor condition or destroyed.
• US$ 100,000 for 21 small pastoral projects, for example 60 mass cases for liturgical celebrations, and training and media projects.
“The churches have opened their doors to everyone and host now thousands of internally displaced people in all dioceses. However, this represents a financial challenge The lion’s share of the money is, the basic costs, such as electricity, water, heating, and so on.”, Kaczmarek explains. “During these five months we have been able to give plenty of help, and we will continue to do so. We need to provide our people with hope”, Kaczmarek concludes.
Founded in 1947 as a Catholic organization to aid war refugees, and recognized as a Pontifical charity in 2011, ACN is dedicated to the service of Christians all over the world, wherever they suffer from persecution, discrimination, or material needs, through prayer, information, and charity.
With delegations in 23 countries, ACN approves an average of 6,000 projects every year in around 150 countries, all thanks to private donations since the organization does not receive any state help.
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