Karol Darmoros
Most Urgent Needs
Bishop Edward Kawa OFMConv, Secretary General of the Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops of Ukraine, connecting online from his country, emphasized that the biggest problem currently is the lack of energy and heating. “In Kamianets-Podilskyi, there is no electricity for 18 hours a day,” he noted. He pointed to the need for generators, energy storage, and long-term food for the elderly and the poor. “This is what is most important today and what truly saves human lives today,” he added.
The hierarch thanked for the constant spiritual and material support: “We are truly very grateful for this (…) for this gesture of love that we experience,” he said. Bishop Kawa also emphasized the importance of prayer, which – as he noted – “truly saves human lives.”
Extensive Caritas Activities
Ireneusz Krause from Caritas Polska presented the scale of aid implemented in cooperation with Caritas Ukraine and Caritas-Spes. As part of the “Family to Family” program, financial and subsistence support goes to seniors, people with disabilities, and large families. Family support centers are run in Kharkiv, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Zhytomyr, and Odesa.
Last year, over 3,500 children benefited from so-called respite stays. In Poland, nearly 24,000 refugees received integration assistance. As noted, in the first year of the war alone, the value of in-kind donations provided by Caritas structures amounted to approximately 600 million PLN.
Global Aid – Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus have so far delivered over 200,000 food packages and 13,000 winter jackets for children. Worldwide, the Knights of Columbus have raised 24 million dollars for the Ukraine aid fund, mainly in the United States and Canada. “We do not cease our efforts,” emphasized Tomasz Wawrzkowicz, state delegate of the Knights of Columbus in Poland. He noted that support includes both material and spiritual aid: “We focus on three areas: human, material, and spiritual reconstruction.” The Knights also finance treatment for amputees, organize psychological assistance, support widows and orphans, and help purchase power generators.
Maltese Aid and Building Resilience
The Maltese Aid Foundation carried out 550 humanitarian transports with a total value of approximately 100 million PLN. “We help in Ukraine, we help Ukrainians in Poland, but we also help others to help,” said Dr. Rafał Szepietowski, Director for International Cooperation of the Maltese Aid Foundation – Maltese Medical Service. The organization trains rescuers and develops a first aid system in Ukraine, building social resilience in wartime conditions. This shows that aid is not limited to one-time transports but is long-term.
“Chicken” Campaign and Concrete Aid
The KEP Team for Aid to the Church in the East allocated over 1.6 million PLN last year for humanitarian and pastoral projects. “We complement each other,” said Father Leszek Kryża TChr, director of the Office of the Team for Aid to the Church in the East at KEP. One of the projects is the “Chicken” campaign, implemented in war-affected areas. Families receive one-day-old chicks, feed, and vaccines to raise them for several months, and share part of the produced food with other needy people. “They say about themselves that they now belong not to those who ask for help, but to those who provide help to others,” emphasized Father Kryża.
The Evangelical Meaning of Aid
Bishop Krzysztof Chudzio, chairman of the Charitable Commission of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, pointed out that when speaking of aid for Ukraine, this concept should be properly understood. “We mean aid to people who have experienced various kinds of misfortune as a result of military actions,” he emphasized.
As he noted, support is not directed to state structures but goes to specific individuals affected by the war: the poor, the sick, the excluded, and families who have lost their homes. “The sight of wealthy Ukrainian citizens should therefore not obscure the people who are in very great need,” observed the auxiliary bishop of the Przemyśl archdiocese.
The hierarch also reminded that for the Church, understood as a community of the baptized and believers, helping the poor is not philanthropy but a fundamental task stemming from the Gospel.
