On his second visit to war-torn Ukraine, Archbishop William E. Lori was able to visit not only Lviv, but also the capital city of Kyiv, which has seen intense fighting since Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
“I think the effects of the war are even more evident in Kyiv than in Lviv,” the archbishop told Catholic Review Media by phone from Rome, where he was participating in the final days of the World Synod of Bishops.
He visited Ukraine Oct. 22-25 with the Knights of Columbus, which has been instrumental in providing aid to the country. Jenny Kraska, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, who visited Ukraine before the war began and other times since 2022, also accompanied the group.
Archbishop Lori said the group visited the small town of Bucha, outside of Kyiv, “one of the places that experienced great brutality at the beginning of the war, with the gunning down of many, including civilians.”
He said some of those killed had been doing civil defense, but that many innocent people were killed. He prayed at a memorial to those buried in a mass grave in Bucha.
A few hours after that visit, he and the Knights of Columbus were distributing warm winter coats to children in the area, some of whom had lost their fathers in the war. He said he also met with about 40 widows.
“I went around and listened to their stories about their life since they lost their husbands,” he said. “It certainly brings home the reality of the war.”
The Knights of Columbus have been very active from the start to assist the Ukrainian people, the archbishop said. At first, they partnered with Knights in Poland, but now the Ukrainian Knights, which are growing in number, are doing a lot more work on their own.
Among the services provided by the KofC are emergency services, care packages, food, clothing, the basics people need to survive, with distribution centers around Ukraine. Additionally, the Knights have supplied modular housing for internally displaced persons and helped at parish facilities for people displaced by the war.
“Knights have been working to make sure that the people who need the services have access to them,” he said.
In addition to needing food and shelter, the archbishop said he learned there are tremendous spiritual and psychological wounds because of the lives lost.
He said the Knights of Columbus chaplains are stepping up to the plate. About 60 chaplains – 85 percent of those from all across Ukraine – gathered to meet with the archbishop, who serves as supreme chaplain for the order. For many of them it was an eight- to 12-hour journey by car because it’s a big country.
Archbishop Lori heard from some chaplains who gave testimony about life in their parishes. The farther east you go, he said, the more they experience drones and shelling from Russian attacks, which has affected the people and landscape.
“These are good, hardworking priests who have stuck with their people. My hat is off to them,” the archbishop said.
Kraska, traveling with the group, said it was powerful to hear what they were going through. “I was really struck by that. As a laywoman getting to experience that – the fraternity and love they had for the archbishop and that he had for them, and to see how much they were willing to risk to come to this meeting.”
She said one thing they learned from the gathering is that because the government needs more men to fight, there has been an uptick of priests being picked up off the street to be conscripted.
“To know that’s what they’re dealing with, risk all that to come and be with their brother priests,” was impressive, Kraska said. “One priest brought shrapnel from his church.”
She said that in Bucha, they learned that early in the war, one church, which had been shelled, was doing five to 10 funerals a day. They found that the Russians had planted landmines in the cemetery. “They put signs and directions to how to avoid the mines before they could be removed. Priests continued doing funerals despite that. These guys were willing to risk all that to minister to the dying and the dead,” she said.
Archbishop Lori said the Knights have grown a lot since the order’s introduction to Poland, and shortly thereafter to Ukraine, Lithuania and a couple other places in Eastern Europe. “What has been attractive is that the Knights have provided support for men to practice their faith, and to support each other in that. They band together in works of charity.
“And, of course, with the advent of war, the Knights were ready to respond. Men who are not Knights who see this are attracted and they want to be part of what’s going on,” he said.
Kraska originally got involved in Ukraine working with Targeted Monastic Initiatives, which helps Benedictine communities to be self-sufficient. She had traveled to the country once before the war broke out and again after. She said when Archbishop Lori asked her to accompany him on his first visit with the Knights, she leapt at the chance, and did the same when he asked again this year.
“The Knights are providing a real sign of hope,” she said. “We may think it’s a small act of charity to hand out coats, but to see the reaction of the people when the archbishop and Knights visited – they were so grateful that people are remembering them.
“What they were telling (Archbishop Lori) was we have so much admiration that you are willing to come here and listen, to stand in solidarity. I think that gave them a great sense of hope that people have not forgotten them,” Kraska said.
In an interview with Catholic News Service, Archbishop Lori said U.S. Catholics must thoughtfully consider the implications of recent escalations in the region without succumbing to polarized political discourse.
When it comes to the role of the United States’ support for Ukraine, “we want to assist the Ukrainian people,” Archbishop Lori said. “We do not want to fall into isolationism; I think we should have learned that from 1939 forward,” he said, referring to the start of World War II.
Email Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org.
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