Donations are being collected after every Mass through Caritas Polska, following an appeal by the head of Poland’s bishops’ conference, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda.
Speaking to Polish Radio, the Rev. Waldemar Pawelec, head of the Pallottine community in Kyiv, described the situation in the Ukrainian capital as dire. “In Kyiv there is a complete catastrophe, because all the hatred and anger has been directed at the capital, to make it impossible to live there,” he said.
Pawelec said churches, religious houses, schools and hospitals have received generators, but funds are urgently needed for fuel. His parish recently obtained a powerful generator that “allows us to survive the most difficult moments,” he said, noting that temperatures are expected to drop well below minus 10 degrees Celsius.
He added that each parish in Kyiv operates a “point of warmth,” where people can get soup, hot coffee or tea, something to eat, warm up and charge their phones.
Caritas Polska is working with Caritas-Spes Ukraine to run so-called Points of Resilience, which provide heated shelter, hot meals and drinks, and phone charging. More than 1,000 hot meals and beverages are distributed daily, along with sleeping bags, blankets and thermal clothing.
The aid centers operate in cities including Kharkiv, Odesa, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Chernihiv, among others.
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Source: Polish Radio