Plans to dramatically cut welfare benefits for refugees from Ukraine who flee to Ireland to avoid Russia’s war are causing anxiety, according to a priest who works with the new arrivals. Officials in Dublin say that they want to “slow” the number of people arriving from Ukraine.
War in Ukraine
Kyiv parish enshrines St. John Paul II relics as sign of ‘strength to endure’ persecution
A Catholic church in Ukraine named for St. Nicholas marked its patron’s feast day by enshrining relics from St. John Paul II, who witnessed the power of faith over authoritarianism.
Pope asks Mary to watch over Ukrainians, Palestinians, Israelis
Mary’s conception, free from original sin, shows that the destiny of humanity lies in life, brotherhood, harmony and peace rather than death, hate, conflict and war, Pope Francis said on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Nothing is impossible for God, not even peace in Ukraine, pope says
Pope Francis asked Catholics around the world to join him in entrusting to Mary “the universal desire for peace, especially for the martyred Ukraine, which is suffering so much.”
Russia bans Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Catholic ministries in occupied region of Ukraine
Russian occupation authorities have banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and other Catholic ministries in occupied areas of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to the church’s main communications office in Kyiv.
Senate Republicans block Ukraine-Israel emergency aid over border, raising Catholic concerns
Senate Republicans Dec. 6 blocked an emergency spending bill to provide billions of dollars in wartime aid to Ukraine and Israel while calling for strict new policies at the U.S.-Mexico border opposed by some Catholic immigration advocates.
Despite losing leg in Ukraine explosion, volunteer returns to war-torn country
As the world celebrated International Volunteer Day Dec. 5, Grazyna Slawinska, a young Polish volunteer who left her comfortable job to aid people with disabilities in Ukraine, was in eastern Ukraine to spend another December in the war-torn nation.
Ukraine churches remember Moscow’s campaign of ‘death by hunger’
Ukrainian church leaders have joined anniversary commemorations of the 1932-1933 Holodomor, or Great Famine, in which millions died in a disaster deliberately engineered by Soviet Union rulers.
For most families with loved ones still held by Hamas, the painful wait continues
Kalderon spends most days in Tel Aviv now joining other hostage family members in telling their stories to the media in order to keep the focus on those being held captive amid a destructive air and ground campaign being waged that has also killed thousands of innocent Palestinians caught in the crossfire.
Russian drone damages Kyiv Catholic cathedral
Russia’s extensive drone attack on Kyiv Nov. 25 damaged the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.
Remembering Soviet-era genocide of Ukraine, ecumenical service prays ‘hope’ overcomes ‘hatred’
As hundreds gathered to commemorate a Soviet-era genocide against Ukrainians, “our hearts, our hope, our prayer” will conquer the hatred and violence that fuel war, said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
Pope prays for ‘just peace’ in Middle East and Ukraine
As the wars, violence and deaths continue in Ukraine and in the Holy Land, Pope Francis again urged people to pray for peace.