Three years of war in Ukraine have left the country in a tragic humanitarian situation. Every day, millions of Ukrainian children, women, and men face immense difficulties in surviving: over 12.7 million people are in urgent need of assistance, while 6.8 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries in search of a safe haven. Within Ukraine’s borders, more than 3.6 million people have been displaced, forced to abandon their homes and previous lives. One of the greatest challenges exacerbating this humanitarian disaster is the harsh winter, with temperatures plummeting below -20°C, while the loss of more than 60% of the national energy supply has left entire communities without heat-ing, electricity, and access to clean drinking water. Against this bleak backdrop the non-stop shelling and bombing from Russia have made it extremely difficult and dangerous for humanitarian organizations to reach out to those lacking basic needs such as food, clothes, shelter and health care.
Despite dangers and logistic difficulties, Church aid organiza-tions, alongside the Holy See and humanitarian organizations, have continued to provide a lifeline to those in greatest need and giving hope for a better future in Ukraine. Among them is Caritas, the global confederation of national Catholic relief and development agencies. Since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022, the Ukrainian branches of Caritas (Caritas Spes and Caritas Ukraine) and its partner members have been at the fore-front, offering medical, psycho-logical, and social assistance, with a special focus on protecting the most vulnerable people, including children, disabled, elderly and women.
Also, on the frontline is the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). According to a statement released this week, over the past three years Pontifical foundation has allocated over € 25 million to various humanitarian and pastoral projects sustaining both the Greek Catholic and Latin Catholic Churches in the country. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24th Feb. 2022, ACN has approved and funded nearly one thousand initiatives. A significant portion of this aid–approximately € 3.5 million–has been used to support priests through Mass stipends, ensuring their ability to continue their pastoral work in times of extreme difficulty.