Winter Warmth for 18 Parishes in Ukraine

The winter of 2025-26 was an especially harsh one for people in Ukraine. Even before that, the soaring energy costs and the widespread destruction of the energy supply system in the war had already caused great suffering, but last winter was even harder. Even the parishes were scarcely able to maintain their heating, and the priests and religious sisters working around the clock to help those in need were facing real risks to their own personal health. Consequently, Bishop Vitaliy Skomarovskyi of Lutsk in northwest Ukraine turned to us for help to provide “warmth for those serving God and their communities and not abandoning them even in the darkest days.” This heating was also for the benefit of children, elderly, and other vulnerable people seeking help within the church premises.

Thanks to our generous benefactors, we were able to give $46,198 to provide firewood and heating pellets for 18 parishes in the Diocese of Lutsk. The bishop has since written to us to express his profound gratitude: “Your support is extremely important and has literally saved us during this difficult time. Today, when people in Ukraine are forced to live under constant threat of attacks and long periods without electric power, a warm house is nothing less than a pledge of security and a spirit of endurance. Thanks to your help, our priests and their parishes have managed to survive another cold winter. On behalf of our diocese, our parishes, priests, and all the faithful, I wish to thank you for your priceless help in providing these heating materials. We owe it to you and to your kind hearts that so many people – and especially children and elderly people – have been able to keep warm. What you have given us is not only physical warmth, but also the feeling that we‘re not alone. It is light in the darkness, warmth in the midst of icy cold, and a sign of hope in times of despair.”

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