U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has donated 1.3 million to Ukraine

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has donated nearly $5 million to fund 211 pastoral, construction, and education projects in 20 former communist countries. More than 1.3 million have been allocated for Ukraine, said Catholicnews.org.ua.

"Recent events in Ukraine clearly showed that the brothers and sisters of central and eastern European countries need our help," said the bishop of Spokane, Wash. Blaise J. Kupich, chairman of Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. "The Church in these regions does a lot of good, despite the fact that it is still recovering from the harm that inflicted on it in the past and the challenges of secular culture that it faces today. Through our financial projects U.S. Catholics clearly expressed their desire to help them in this new stage of their journey as disciples of Christ."

Among the grants presented at the meeting, the committee drew particular attention to Ukraine. They approved 80 grants for pastoral work and for the restoration of the country, a total amount of $1,305,532.

The approved projects include construction of shelters for the homeless, operating costs for several orphanages run by Sisters of St. Joseph, the costs for youth programs and Catholic television programs.