The covid-19 compassion fund
Risking Their Lives for the Sick, Lonely and Afraid
“Every time I hear the doorbell and open our convent door, I see people in need. They include homeless people, and those who have lost their jobs because of the virus and are now in financial difficulties. Yesterday a woman came to us asking for food for her three children. After her there was a man asking for food for his mother,” said Sister Elena Gnadziuk in Ukraine, helping dozens of people affected by Covid-19. The Congregation’s food, medicine – whatever they have – is being distributed to those greatly hurting in their community.
But how will the Sisters care for themselves when their own provisions run out? Your urgent gift today will ensure that rations will be there at this desperate time for these dedicated women who give so much. Please help today.
Giving all they have
Sister Daniela Pukhalska is a nursing sister at a hospital in Odessa on the Black Sea. She works in the infectious diseases section and now with those suffering from Covid-19. These patients are incredibly sick, but are also lonely and frightened, away from their homes and family. Sister Daniela is there to comfort and console as much as she can, standing in for loved ones who are not allowed to be at these heartbreaking bedsides. This brave woman is not afraid of getting sick herself, but is afraid that she may not be able to continue her mission of love if she runs out of strength in her caregiving responsibilities.
Please help Sister Daniela and her fellow Sisters with a gift that will support their daily needs. This vital donation will keep our Sisters physically able to care for patients suffering from this terrible virus. Please give whatever you can. No amount is too small for those who have so little at this critical time.
Shepherds in the storm
Please donate what you can to our Covid-19 Compassion Fund. Our religious need you now. God bless you and those you hold dear.
Aid to the Church in Need has pledged $5.5 M in emergency funding to priests and nuns caring for the most vulnerable communities around the world. Funding will assist religious who lost their basic means of subsistence so that they can continue their spiritual and social ministries, such as administering the sacraments, teaching the faith, caring for the sick and elderly, and helping the poor. Thank you for helping us to meet this urgent commitment to our priests and nuns who are always there for our brothers and sisters in faith. May God bless you.
So many priests have lost their lives to Covid-19; some have succumbed directly to the virus, while others heroically died, sacrificing ventilators for those younger than themselves.
The priests who remain to serve are trying to keep the faith alive, despite closed churches and quarantines. Priests around the world have taken to the streets in their countries, in their communities, with the Blessed Sacrament. In Myanmar, displaced persons in camps are visited by priests while safety measures are carefully observed. Priests continue to be shepherds of their flocks even in the most difficult of times, even in the cruelest of storms.
But if we don’t help our priests now, they will no longer be in a position to be there for their faithful. They need urgent assistance with their basic needs so that they can be a source of comfort and support to those who rely on them.
This priest in Zambia, whom we just received this desperate message from, is an example of the situation priests find themselves in:
“The country has entered a national lockdown. This entails a lot of suffering. We are not even imagining how the poor people will suffer. I greatly anticipate a lot of suffering among priests also because whatever we eat and use come from the Sunday special offering. Now that churches are closing, where are we going to find food? We too are becoming poor and vulnerable.”
Whatever you can offer at this terrible time will make a tremendous difference in the lives of our priests.
