Ukraine Fights for Survival: Cardinal Schönborn Issues Urgent Appeal for Help
Due to Russia’s “war of annihilation” against the civilian population, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has appealed for more active assistance and donations to support aid programs implemented by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Caritas throughout Ukraine.
This was reported by the Catholic agency Kathpress.
Amid the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn called for an urgent increase in aid to the affected population. Ukraine is experiencing its harshest winter conditions since the start of the war. Russia is deliberately destroying civilian infrastructure, causing severe problems with energy, water, and heat supply. Many cities are without electricity, and people have no access to water, gas, or heat.
Cardinal Schönborn called this Putin’s “horrific war of annihilation” against the Ukrainian civilian population. People in Ukraine remember the Holodomor famine of the 1930s, when artificially induced starvation led to the deaths of millions of people. He noted, “Now our help is needed more than ever.”
According to Fr. Yuriy Kolasa, Vicar General of the Eastern Catholic Churches in Austria, in an interview with the Catholic agency Kathpress, at this moment, in Kyiv alone, approximately 710,000 people have been without electricity for more than a day. Almost 1,100 residential buildings, home to an estimated 154,000 people, are without water and heating. According to the government, even after the situation stabilizes, about 60 % of homes in Kyiv and surrounding areas will remain without heating. Cold weather conditions are making it much harder to repair heating systems.
“The situation is particularly critical in multi-story buildings: there is no electricity, heating, or functioning elevators, and the water supply and sewage systems are not working. Due to the frost, many pipes are damaged or badly frozen, and they can only be defrosted in the summer. In unheated concrete rooms, the ice melts very slowly. In many apartments, the temperature does not exceed 6–7 degrees,” said Father Yuriy. People with disabilities, lonely elderly people, and families with small children are particularly vulnerable.
The destroyed infrastructure and constant power outages have serious long-term consequences. Due to the lack of electricity, hundreds of thousands of children cannot study online or offline. Banks, shops, factories, and other important institutions cannot function normally.
Need for international solidarity
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, called on all Ukrainian parishes around the world to actively participate in providing assistance, as the situation in Ukraine is critical. All Ukrainian communities in Austria belonging to the Eastern Ordinariate under the leadership of Cardinal Schönborn are participating in the global aid campaign. Cardinal Schönborn and Vicar General Fr. Yuriy Kolasa hope that many other parishes and dioceses in Austria will not abandon the people of Ukraine and will join the aid campaign.
“The UGCC is doing everything it can to alleviate this life-threatening situation for millions of people,” said Fr. Yuriy. “In Kyiv and the surrounding area, the UGCC, together with Caritas, is organizing the distribution of hot meals in eight locations, where 1,600 meals are served daily. The clergy also deliver these meals directly to people’s homes, as many people are unable to move around but urgently need help.”
The Church, in collaboration with Caritas, is also organizing the distribution of food packages to provide emergency assistance and has already distributed up to 5,000 packages. Five tents have been set up in Kyiv and the surrounding areas to serve as heating and food distribution points. A temporary shelter has been set up in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv, which operates around the clock. Father Yuriy noted: “Many people come to warm up or charge important devices, and some stay overnight.”
“Many elderly and disabled people are forced to stay in their apartments without heating and electricity for long periods of time. Therefore, volunteers from local church communities are increasingly taking responsibility, visiting them at home and bringing them food, medicine, and warm clothing,” said the Vicar General of the Catholic Eastern Churches in Austria.
The UGCC Department for Information
