Support Eastern Rite Nuns in Ukraine
Thursday, February 20, 2014

Project Code: 438-05-39

"Your help is extremely important to us. It is the most important source of support for our Sisters. Without your help we would scarcely be able to survive and do our pastoral work. We thank you for it with all our hearts and we pray at every Divine Liturgy for you and your benefactors." These were the words of Dr. Oleh Shepetyak, a diocesan bursar, who wrote to thank all our benefactors for the support they have given to Sisters in Ukraine.

In West Ukraine, Eastern-rite Catholics of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church make up the majority of Christians, but in East Ukraine, there are relatively few Catholics, and even these often live widely scattered. In the Ukrainian Catholic Archieparchy of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, only 43 priests are available to minister to a total of 240,000 Catholics.

Given this situation, the selfless and devoted service of the 27 religious Sisters here is a precious and vital pillar of the pastoral ministry. These Sisters belong to 6 different congregations and fulfil many different duties. They give catechetical instruction in the parishes, prepare children and adults for reception of the sacraments, care for the elderly in various care homes, help with the prison apostolate and in the hospitals, take care of the domestic chores in the local seminary and organize retreats and days of recollection for different target groups.

Above all their work with young people is important. For many of the children and young people who attend the religious instruction and the Church-run leisure activities, though coming from nominally Christian families, often have little understanding of their faith. And many of the parents know just as little as their children. As one mother once said to a priest, "How am I going to teach my children how to pray when I myself have only just learned to say the Our Father from the television?" Nevertheless, there is a strong wish among many to learn more about God, and frequently the parents also find their way back to the faith through their children.

The Sisters do all this work purely for the love of God. As for themselves, they barely have enough to live on. That is why ACN is helping to support them in their life and ministry with an annual contribution of $700 per Sister. Will you join us in continuing to support these Easter Rite nuns in Ukraine?

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