“The entire Catholic world is praying for you and Ukraine," - Archbishop Gallagher addressing the IDPs in Lviv
This is reported by the LODA press service.
Since the beginning of the war, the parish of St. John Paul II of the pope has already received more than 1,500 people. Today, 120 internally displaced persons live in the parish.
Residents of the center met the archbishop with signs with the names of the cities they left to show how many settlements were affected by Russian aggression. The archbishop spoke with them, expressed words of support and sympathy, and listened to personal stories. The representative of the Holy See also thanked the center's volunteers for arranging a safe haven for internally displaced persons and addressed them with a message from the Pope.
"I want to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. I am confident that you all have faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Father sends you his blessing. He is very well aware of what is happening in your country. He knows that you are a strong and united people. And we always pray for those who died in this war, and for those people who were forced to leave their homes. I wish you to be strong and brave so that your children grow up strong and happy. The Pope and the entire Catholic world are praying for you," said Paul Gallagher.
Maksym Kozytsky also expressed gratitude to the Roman Catholic community for helping the displaced people. "Many thanks to the Catholic Church for helping to provide people with housing and security, so that they feel at home again and never lose faith in God, in human kindness and in our victory. I believe that everything will be fine with us! Thank you for joining us!” said the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytsky noted.
The Roman Catholic Church of St. John Paul II and the Family Center estate near the church in Sokilnyky were consecrated on July 18, 2020, by the Papal Almoner Cardinal Konrad Kraevsky in concelebration with Metropolitan Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv and assistant bishop of the Archdiocese of Lviv, Edward Kawa.
