A war being waged more than 5,000 miles away in Ukraine hits close to home for some religious-order priests and sisters living and working in the Diocese of Columbus.
Members of the Pallottine Fathers, Dominican Sisters of the U.S.-based Immaculate Conception Province and Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception are natives of Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine and has seen millions of refugees pour into the country since Russia launched an invasion in February.
Some priests and nuns from their orders have remained in Ukraine during the conflict to serve spiritually and materially the people who have chosen to stay. Many others in their congregations are working in Poland with the Ukrainian refugees to provide food and shelter.
The Dominican sisters in Poland have provided support on several levels, said Sister Andrea Andrzejewska, OP, who serves as a project manager and executive assistant in the Diocese of Columbus Office of Catholic Schools. She is one of four sisters from her congregation working in the Columbus diocese in various parish ministries.
The sisters in Poland have worked with hundreds of volunteers from throughout Europe who are providing humanitarian aid. They received 10 truckloads and nine busloads of necessity items in Zhovkva, Ukraine, that the sisters helped pack and load for transportation by brave drivers to the Ukrainian war zones.
Fortunately, the sisters in their two houses in Ukraine have not seen any bombs exploding around them, but they hear them in the distance. At night, they sit in darkness to avoid being seen.
“I was chatting with a sister who is in Ukraine, and she said to pray for us that no missiles hit them,” Sister Andrea said. “It was really touching.”
When the crisis began, the sisters received help from their students, parents and neighbors to provide soup, sandwiches, coffee and tea at the border for the refugees waiting to cross into Poland.
Their work has shifted to providing assistance to Ukrainians who have safely crossed into Poland, where the sisters have 32 convents. Agata Kornhauser-Duda, the wife of Poland’s Catholic president, is supporting the sisters, as are the Dominican Foundation and the charitable organization Caritas.
In Zhovkva, Ukraine, the sisters are using two schools to shelter about 120 people, bringing them food, clothing and toys.
Several refugees in Zhovkva have stayed with the sisters before they moved on to other locations, and a recent report listed 26 refugees staying with the order in Krakow, 17 in Biala Nizna, 15 in Mielzyn, 11 in Wielowies and 10 in Broniszewice before they continued west to other European countries. In Warsaw, the sisters coordinated places to stay for about 500 families.
Polish citizens have opened their homes to the Ukrainians. Sister Andrea said that Poland has no refugee camps, and all displaced people are taken into homes or convents.
Besides providing necessities, the sisters helped a woman diagnosed with cancer find a medical provider to continue her chemotherapy treatment, and others needed guidance with administrative affairs to look for work while they’re displaced from their home country.
To contribute directly to the Dominican sisters’ efforts, go to sistersop.com or to their donation site at https://pages.donately.com/sistersop/campaign/help-for-ukraine.
The Pallottine Fathers, who have two priests serving locally in the diocese at Columbus St. Christopher Church, also staff parishes in Ukraine, where they have remained throughout the fighting in Kharkiv, Odessa, Mariupol and Zhytomyr.
“They made the decision to stay by themselves because our (order’s) provincial asked them to come back to Poland, and they said no,” said Father Wojciech Stachura, pastor at St. Christopher. “They wanted to stay with the people. So pray for them. Thanks be to God that no one has been hurt.”
Pallottine Father Viaczeslaw Grynevytsch, president of the charitable organization Caritas Spes, said in March that the Ukrainian people appreciate prayers in addition to material aid.
“When we were in Kyiv (in early March) … I could see how prayer is very important for them,” he told Aid to the Church in Need. “When the bombing started, they went to the bomb shelter, and the first thing they did was pray together. It was the only type of support they had. Being with them, as priests, we tried to speak about God, about spirituality, and we opened our church.
“This is also a form of ecumenical enrichment, because the Latin Catholic Church in Ukraine is a very small group. We are only 1% of the population, but we have invited people into our house, without any question of denomination.
“In this center where we are now, there are about 300 women and children, and some of them are Protestant, but they asked if they could participate in the Holy Mass. As a priest, I said no problem, we are open. For me, it is important that I can serve as a priest, and it is my duty to support them through my service and the vocation God gave me.”
Meanwhile, in Poland, the Pallottine Fathers are welcoming refugees into their various houses.
Anyone interested in making a financial contribution to the Pallottines’ efforts for Ukraine can send donations to St. Christopher Church, 1420 Grandview Ave., Columbus, OH 43212.
Support and prayers are still needed for the work being done in Ukraine and Poland by the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, whose sisters operate the St. John Paul II Early Childhood Education Center at 957 E. Broad St., Columbus.
“We are absolutely praying with many people and our children and their parents,” said Sister Bozena Tyborowska, director of the center and a native of Poland. “We even had a family rosary on Sunday at the convent with our students and their families. Many people also send donations to help the sisters in their mission.”
Mother Beata Chwistek, superior general of the Little Servant Sisters, provided a March 20 update to donors on the situation in Ukraine and Poland:
“On behalf of the Little Servant Sisters worldwide, I want to thank you for your generosity to our sisters who are working with those suffering as a result of the war in Ukraine, and also in our houses near the border in Poland.
“Your gifts are a support for mothers and children, who have reached us with great difficulty from Sumy and Kharkiv, leaving there the achievements of a lifetime, and now they have found refuge in our General House in Stara Wies, Poland – and will stay as long as needed.
“In turn, the sisters from Przemysl and Pralkowiec opened their homes to newcomers from the border so that they can rest after the unimaginable hardships of the trip to Poland, often under fire, in hunger, cold and uncertainty about their fate.
“The sisters serve them selflessly by offering food, shelter and nursing. Since February 24, 2022, there have been about 30 people every day, in each of these houses.
“In eight places in Ukraine, the sisters have remained in their houses. They themselves, exposed to the war’s uncertainty of tomorrow, also accept to their homes or to their parish premises people fleeing from the areas of the heaviest fighting, and offer a variety of help.
“The sisters who worked from Odessa had to go to a safer place where they continue to experience firsthand the effects of war by caring for wounded soldiers and participating in the preparation of meals for combatants.
“Thank God – and thanks to your help – our sisters in Ukraine have managed to pass on the gifts they already received to the neediest.
“There is still a great need for funds for food, medicine and hygiene products like soaps, washing powder, bandages and medicines.
“Our religious community supports all the intentions of our benefactors with heartfelt prayer, especially in the chapel of the General House, during the 24-hour Adoration of the Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
“With gratitude and respect, united in prayer for peace in Ukraine and for the conversion of Russia.”
Donations to the Little Servant Sisters can be made at https://www.lsic.us/online-giving/.
