WASHINGTON — As palm fronds burned in a crackling fire at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, D.C., Atonement Father Jim Gardiner called attention to a more sinister fire burning in another part of the world.
A woman prayed during a Divine Liturgy at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York City Feb. 27 as Russia’s military attacks on Ukraine continued. St. George is part of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Conn.Photo Credits: David Delgado | Reuters“There’s other types of fires in the world that are breaking our hearts right now. We see people’s homes destroyed in Ukraine and elsewhere,” he said Feb. 27 to a crowd that gathered to watch palms reduced to a fine powder for use at the monastery’s Ash Wednesday Masses this year.
A short distance from the monastery, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in North America, a few hours later lit up in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Ukraine seems to be a rare point of unity throughout the world. As Russia intensified its attacks March 1, carrying out major offensives in various cities in Ukraine, many Catholics intensified their prayers.
Pope Francis called for Ash Wednesday, March 2, to be a day of fasting and prayer for Ukraine.
At the diocesan level, bishops with significant numbers of Ukrainians in their flocks organized Masses and offered prayers to comfort those worried about friends and family in their native country.
Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis posted on his Facebook page: “Please join me in praying for the people of Ukraine and all those whose lives are in peril due to political unrest. Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of all blessings, give them peace and consolation. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray with us and for us that all hearts will be converted, so as to share in your fullness of love for God and all mankind.”
Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, New York, tweeted Feb. 26 about a visit with the Ukrainian community at Guardian Angel Church in Brighton Beach, saying he was “doing what Catholics do in times of tribulation: We pour our hearts out to God and ask for His protection.”
Volunteers pitch in to aid evacuating Ukrainians
As half a million Ukrainians crossed the borders into neighboring countries to flee the war, the European Ukrainian diaspora and ordinary citizens turned out to welcome and help transport, feed and house them.
The main destination for many fleeing has been Poland, where many arrived in Medyka, the main road and rail border crossing from Ukraine.
After a 30-hour journey, Katerina Kosar told a Handelsblatt reporter: “I barely got out, but my family, friends and neighbors are stuck in bomb shelters.” She fled with her daughter, Diana, and the family pet. She said she left Kharkiv at 4 a.m. Feb. 24.
“My husband told me to go to Lviv for a few days for safety, as I am heavily pregnant,” she said. “An hour and a half later, the bombs started falling.”
She later continued her journey to Posnan, where her uncle, who lives in Denmark, came to meet her.
Lviv is the largest city in Western Ukraine and, before 1939, was part of Poland. German newspapers reported that Polish volunteers have been driving all the way to Lviv to pick up Ukrainians and transport them into Poland.
Even before the Russian invasion began, officials estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians had left for Poland since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.
Don Bosco International, which represents Salesian religious orders to European institutions, tweeted photos that showed Slovak Salesians had transported 50 children in a bus from a care center in Lviv, in collaboration with the Ukrainian police and Salesians in Ukraine. “They will be placed in Slovakian families.”
On Feb. 26, the Polish State Railways announced that anyone with a Ukrainian passport could use the trains for free, and it was sending more trains to Przemysl and Medyka. The following day, Germany’s national railway announced that any Ukrainian refugee could travel for free.
Eva-Maria Welskop-Deffaa of Caritas Germany said Feb. 27 her agency was “preparing to receive the refugees who are increasingly heading west.” European Union leaders agreed to give Ukrainian refugees one-year residency permits.
Gernot Kraus of Caritas Internationalis said 34 of the agency’s 37 centers in Ukraine were still providing aid to people there, and the agency expects a million Ukrainians to cross into Poland alone.
Calls to protect cathedral
The Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Kyiv-Halych and the Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See said they had received information that Russia planned airstrikes on the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv. The cathedral is holy to all Slavic people and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A Rome spokesman for Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, major archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic church, said church officials had received intelligence about the airstrikes. He said Archbishop Shevchuk called on all Christians to pray for the site and “calls upon the aggressor to refrain from this most horrific act of vandalism.”
“May St. Sophia — the wisdom of God — illumine those who have considered committing this crime,” Archbishop Shevchuk said.
The Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See tweeted out the information from “intelligence data” and said in all caps, “We appeal to the Russians — do not commit the crime.”
>> Where to give to help Ukraine
WASHINGTON — Various Catholic agencies are collecting donations to aid with the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, as people flee to escape Russian bombing and shelling. Here are some places to donate. This list is not exhaustive.
The international Caritas confederation is collecting funds to help Caritas Ukraine. In the United States, that is through Catholic Relief Services: https://bit.ly/3LWtOKa. Internationally, you can donate through https://www.caritas.org/.
The Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia also has a link: https://ukrarcheparchy.us/donate.
Two pontifical agencies also are taking donations for Ukraine: Catholic Near East Welfare Association, https://cnewa.org/campaigns/ukraine/, and Aid to the Church in Need, https://www.churchinneed.org/. Internationally, Aid to the Church can be reached at https://bit.ly/3vfqCn4.
The Knights of Columbus launched the Ukraine Solidarity Fund, and donations can be made at kofc.org/secure/en /donate/ukraine.html. On Feb. 25, the Knights of Columbus announced a commitment of $1 million for immediate distribution to support Ukrainian refugees and will match all funds raised up to an additional $500,000. The relief funding will be used to provide shelter, food, medical supplies, clothing and religious goods, as well as other humanitarian needs as identified, both directly in Ukraine and through refugee sites in Poland.
Donations can also be made to Jesuit Refugee Service at www.jrsusa.org to support the agency’s work in Europe “to accompany, serve, and advocate for those forced to flee from war and conflict.”
The Salesians also are accepting donations to help refugees: https://salesianmissions.org/lp/ukraine-emergency/.