On the 2nd Sunday of Advent, the Day of prayer and material help for the Church in the East is celebrated. The aim of this day is the spiritual and material support of the Catholic Church in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, i.e. in Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
The Polish Bishops’ Conference chose the Second Sunday of Advent as the day on which we are invited to express our memory and show kindness to all our sisters and brothers living in the East, who are close to us because of our historical and many shared experiences. Many of us have left our families there. And there are even more who remember their deceased relatives and their graves scattered in the Vilnius region, Polesie, Volhynia, and Podolia, endless Siberia, or the steppes of Kazakhstan. At the same time, we remember well to what difficulties all our brothers and sisters were exposed to and how much they had to suffer for being Polish and for their faith throughout the decades.
In this extraordinary history of the rebirth of the Catholic Church across the Eastern border, the Team for Aid to the Church in the East at the Polish Bishops’ Conference has been participating for over 30 years, and everyone who supports this great work spiritually or materially.
Currently, the Church across the eastern border is served by 198 diocesan priests, 387 religious priests, 320 sisters and 40 religious brothers from Poland, and lay volunteers. The team’s office receives written requests from the diocese, parish, and religious congregations working in the East. In 2021, 221 requests for the amount of PLN 2,147,299.20 have already been completed, most of which were sent to Ukraine and Belarus.
The above amount includes, among others: subsidies for the construction of new churches, reconstruction and renovation of churches, presbyteries, and catechetical rooms. We also managed to support the organization of summer recreation combined with formation for children and youth, and even for the elderly or the homeless. This aid was provided to 43 groups from Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as the Sisters and Priests who organize the holiday recall – for many participants it is a unique time not only for fun, meetings, prayers, but also regular eating.
Support is also given to day-care centers, kindergartens, orphanages, homes for seniors and single mothers, shelters for the homeless, as well as canteens and kitchens run by nuns and brothers for feeding children, the elderly and the poorest.
Last year, in cooperation with the Upper Silesian Branch of the Polish Community Association, we managed to open four “Good Heart” Charity Stations in Ukraine, thanks to which those in need have access to rehabilitation equipment, crutches, prams, walkers, dressings, etc. those who came from the East to Poland, including students by paying scholarships. The team also constantly provides liturgical assistance to the Catholic Church in the East by purchasing liturgical paraments for specific parishes, chapels and temples sound systems, liturgical books, as well as prayer books and songbooks, and all kinds of catechetical aids. Still, an important part of the expenses are subsidies for the construction of new churches, reconstruction, and renovation of churches, presbyteries and catechetical rooms.
In addition, the team finances the shipment of Catholic press, including KAI news and the magazine “Love One Another”, and supports publishing houses and media operating within the Church in the East, as well as many other projects. On the initiative of the Team, the Siberian Voluntary Service was also established, gathering laypeople who help priests and nuns in the East during their holidays or vacations. In 2021, 15 people left for voluntary service, despite pandemic restrictions, to Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania and Bulgaria, and another, i.e. the fifth group, started formation in October this year.
The team also financed the publication of the book “Necrologium Episcoporum Poloniae”. The lexicon is being developed, along with memories of the participation of Polish clergy in the revival of the Catholic Church in the East. It is a work that will save from oblivion what priests and nuns from Poland did for the Church beyond the eastern border, especially after the so-called “Perestroika”. In addition, the Team Director goes to the East to find out about the needs and check project implementation. Recently, he has visited Lithuania, Ukraine, and Armenia.
The team encourages spiritual and material support for the pastoral, evangelistic, and charitable works of the Catholic Church in the East. The sacrifices collected on the second Sunday of Advent, as well as coming from regular individual donors throughout the year, are of priceless help to Catholics in all local dioceses.
On this day, the faithful from many parishes across the eastern border join the Church in Poland and abroad, thanking God for prayers and sacrifices. “The day of prayer and material help for the Church in the East” there, across the eastern border, is a day of gratitude for those who help spiritually and materially.
