Faithful walk in procession toward the Dnipro River for the blessing of water Jan. 6, 2024, after Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, celebrated a Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv amid ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine. (OSV News photo/courtesy Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) Chaplains to the Ukrainian Catholic community throughout western Europe have met in Poland to address the biggest concerns facing the Ukrainian population in their care.
Foremost among these are the ongoing physical, emotional and spiritual effects on those who’ve been displaced by the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to Fr Vasyl Kornitsky, chaplain to the Ukrainian community in Ireland.
The meeting, which took place in the Polish city of Wroclaw saw attendance from representatives of dioceses and exarchates of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Ireland, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Poland.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Fr Kornitsky said that he received a “great boost” from the meeting as it gave him a sense that he isn’t alone in his efforts to minister to people facing a difficult situation.
“We were trying to figure out our needs, the needs of the people, but the biggest challenge that we face at the moment is healing the wounds of war,” Fr Kornitsky said.
“The war in Ukraine affects everyone differently and we see a lot of people who fled Ukraine and are here in western Europe, that the war still affects them in different ways. Many still have family members back home, they have a feeling of fear, uncertainty and guilt, for example – that they left their country and moved somewhere else.
“Even though people live in different countries and the governments help them in different ways, the challenges are the same. Their pastoral needs are still the same. The war has affected them and they have different wounds that need to be healed. We’re trying to figure out how we priests help them.”