ACN Staff Visit Ukraine

ACN staff recently visited Ukraine to meet with Church partners and leaders. ACN’s project manager for Ukraine, Magda Kaczmarek, told us about the situation in Ukraine upon her return.

By ACN Staff

Magda Kaczmarek (ACN Head of Section for Eastern Europe), Marco Mencaglia (ACN Project Director of ACN for Eastern Europe), Archbishop Volodymyr Viytyshyn ((Archeparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk-UCR), and Sr. Karolina Mordaka (ACN Poland). (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

ACN has worked extensively with the Church in Ukraine over the decades, starting in 1953. Since the collapse of the USSR and communism, ACN has been helping the Catholic Church in Ukraine rebuild following decades of persecution. In response to the current crisis, ACN has increased the quantity of aid to the Ukrainian Church. This aid supports priests, religious, and the Church’s work with refugees. Before Easter, staff from ACN visited project locations in the west of Ukraine. Following the trip, ACN’s project manager from Ukraine, Magda Kaczmarek, was interviewed by Volker Niggewöhner about her experience.

Sr. Natalis showing the accommodation for the refugee families. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Magda began by saying that this was the worst experience of conflict in Ukraine since the days of the Second World War. She went on to explain:

“We spent Holy Week in western Ukraine. We met many, many people there who have sought refuge with Church institutions. Most of them are mothers with children, and elderly people. It is a great humanitarian catastrophe and the people are suffering profoundly.”

The ACN staff started their visit in Lviv, close to the Polish border. The seminary there and the Order of St. Basil the Great had opened their doors to refugees. The staff also visited the Greek Catholic Archbishop of Ivano-Frankivsk. Magda explained more about the Church’s work there:

“The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk is running a very impressive project. It has set up its own hospital to treat the wounded. Its staff includes physicians and medical personnel who were forced to flee from the eastern parts of the country. This gives them employment opportunities. It is very important that these people do not leave Ukraine and that is one of the goals the Church is working to achieve.”

Magda explained what it was like meeting the refugees:

“It was a very emotional experience. We met refugees who couldn’t stop crying. It was so important to just hold them for a while. And then there were the refugees whom the war has silenced. We met a young man of about 30 who has not said a word since the war began. I remember a small child who did not have anything to eat for two days while they were on the road. Many of them have eyes that look as though they are made of glass, faces that have been turned into stone. They are having trouble understanding what is happening around them.”

Refugees from Kiev staying in the seminary. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

The ACN staff’s impression was that the refugees wanted to stay in Ukraine and soon return to their homes and be reunited with their loved ones. Magda also explained that some of the refugees from the east of Ukraine are experiencing the Church for the first time in the refugee centres:

“Many of the refugees from eastern Ukraine are either not baptised or did not actively practice their faith. Now, at the refugee centres run by the Church, they are experiencing a living Church for the first time. In many of our conversations, we learned that the people are very grateful that the Church has taken them in and they feel the proximity of God there. We met people who had never gone to church before and now they are praying together – the rosary, for example. Denomination does not matter to the Catholic Church. All who come are welcome.”

While in Ukraine, ACN staff were able to speak to the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. The major archbishop asked for ACN to continue to support the Ukrainian Church through these difficult times. Although the Church is happy to open its doors to refugees, there are a lot of additional costs in terms of heating and food needed to accommodate so many people. There are also additional transportation costs to help deliver humanitarian. ACN has already paid an emergency aid package of €1.3 million and is preparing to support other projects in Ukraine with our Church partners.