Those needs vary, depending on what region of Ukraine is served, he said, adding that during his travels, the number one need is food and other basics to help those who “have no means of providing for themselves and their families,” the loss of jobs as a cause.

 

The second vital need, he said, is shelter for those coming from war-torn areas, “finding safe places for them either in Ukraine or other countries … overall, we have managed to evacuate around 800 people …” A third need is building temporary housing for people in safe zones, a refuge for them in the near future.

 

Father Yavorskyy said that priests and religious “even before the outbreak of war were living in very modest conditions, basically surviving, and it was very difficult to carry out (their) ministry.” On their own, they don’t have much to give, leading to his conclusion of “thank you for your support, and thank you for being together with us.”

 

Father Mateusz Adamski

Roman Catholic priest Father Adamski first outlined the Roman Catholic population in Ukraine. In territories of more than 8 million people, he said, 220,000 are Roman Catholics, with 146 parishes (51 in cities and 95 in rural areas), and 160 priests (96 are monastic and 64 incardinated in the diocese).

 

“We serve,” he said, “with spiritual freedoms,” with church buildings serving as bomb shelters. He spoke of how “Russians continue their air strikes” on civilian targets.

 

“Our priests and volunteers help,” he said, “where it was possible and more-or-less safe.” They have delivered water, food and medications to towns that had no water or food. People with disabilities, large families have been displaced and more than 720 persons daily received assistance. 

 

He bemoaned looters (unclear to this author if they were Russian or Ukrainian) who “took everything that could be sold” including personal items from seminaries and even a chalice from a 2001 Mass led by Pope St. John Paul II.

 

The roof of a seminary has traces of shrapnel, he said, and they are “now trying to clean rooms to continue (studies) in September … (and) hope to fix the heating system. We know this winter will be cold … We also have 10 small seminaries and wish to open them to IDPS (internally-displaced persons).

 

“We cannot be anywhere else. It is us who can help to prevent death …” He noted the use of cars as ambulances (all 43 ambulances are destroyed) and how they continue to be targets for Russian missiles.

 

Although the Russians have “systematically” blocked transports of grain, he said, Ukrainians “still have started harvesting … we know this winter will be hungry and cold. Our diocese has been baking bread for the (needy) and also distribute food packages … (there are) many dead civilians and soldiers every day …” and famine is predicted. He adds that even the wounded also are donating blood, trying to “save the life of someone else.”

 

The priest noted the “great need for kindergartens” and that his diocese is in process to open one for internally displaced families. “Since the first days … volunteers are sometimes in danger, but we continue to do that (work) where it is needed.”

 

Rev. Roman Zaviyskyy

Father Zaviyskyy of the Greek Catholic Church of St. Basil the Great in west Ukraine said the archdiocese is “trying to do its best to help out,” and how there is an increase in the number of people who for various reasons cannot leave the country, including those who need to care for wounded relatives, elderly parents … and “a lot have terminally sick relatives in hospitals.”

 

The churches and monastic communities “are here to help in western Ukraine,” he said. He noted a theological institute that is “now turned into a refugee center” for 170 mostly mothers and children who escaped … including “a lot of people from Mariupol.”

 

“I was there a couple of times,” he said. “People are very grateful … for a lot of them it’s their first encounter with the Church. Sometimes they burst to tears, having realized the compassion and care that the monks and people are providing for their stay and their comfort and their safety.”

 

A Catholic hospital is next to the eparchy, Father Zaviyskyy said. Evacuation is being done by specialized emergency vans equipped to transport people who are “heavily injured and wounded” to the border. People received in centers are being provided with free medical consultations, he said, and “a lot rely on (that) for their survival.”

 

The psychological care is important, he said. Around-the-clock palliative care is being provided to over 50 and mobile medical care for terminally sick people inside the city — for thousands of low income, internally displaced people and refugees. There are humanitarian convoys to the central, eastern and southern Ukraine regions.

 

“I would like to, on behalf of the archdiocese, express profound gratitude for timely and generous support of the American Catholics that the Church in Ukraine receives in many ways,” he said.

 

Sister Emmanuela Kharyshyn, SSMI

“We as sisters live in Ukraine, and we are trying to respond to the call of our founders to help people in need,” said Sister Emmanuela as her superior listened silently at her side.