The Bishops of Poland expressed their solidarity with all the people of Ukraine after the invasion by Russia.
In a statement, the president of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Bishop Stanislaw Gadecki, “firmly condemned the action of Russia and Vladimir Putin as an unacceptable and shameful act of barbarism, directly against the sovereignty and independence of an independent state”.
On behalf of the entire Church in Poland, Bishop Gadecki expressed his solidarity with all Ukrainians, who are in Poland or Ukraine, and assured them of his closeness, his prayers and his availability to help.
For this reason, together with the request of Pope Francis, the president of the Polish Episcopal Conference asked all the Bishops of the country and all the faithful that “Ash Wednesday be celebrated in the Church in Poland as a day of fasting and prayer for peace and solidarity with the Ukrainians so that the Lord may comfort them in their hearts in this tragic situation”.
He also assured that as the Church in Poland, “we want to go out to meet our brothers also with material help”, for this reason Msgr. Gadecki has made an appeal so that both next Sunday and Ash Wednesday “at the end of each mass organizes a collection of funds, which through Caritas Poland, will be used to help refugees from the war in Ukraine”.
“Aid from the Catholic Church in Poland will be successively and systematically distributed through our charitable, parish, diocesan and national institutions, among which is the Team for Aid to the Eastern Church of the Polish Episcopal Conference,” he assured.
He also asked “all believers and people of good will to be open to those who need shelter.”
“I entrust the fate of Ukraine and Poland to the Queen of Peace, I assure everyone of my spiritual closeness and my prayers,” he said.
