In 2022, shortly after the war in Ukraine began, The Passionists of Holy Cross Province created a fundraising effort to help our Passionist Brothers in Poland who were providing aid to Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war.

Fr. David Colhour, CP, Provincial of Holy Cross Province, recently reached out to the Passionists in Poland to inquire about their well-being. He wanted to assure Fr. Lukasz Andrzejewski, CP, Provincial of the Polish Province, that "[t]here are good people here in [Holy Cross] Province who are supporting you with some financial help and with their prayers."

Fr. David received the following response from Fr. Lukasz:

Dear Father,

Thank you so much for your support of our activities in Ukraine. As you probably know, in Smotrycz (Podole region) we have been present for more than 30 years. When we arrived in this area it was still the USSR. Currently, there are four Passionists working there (3 Ukrainians and one Polish), and I hope that soon another priest will join them. The Passionists take care of 6 parishes in the area (including one Marian shrine), catechize, run a retreat house, and, since 2017, the House of Mercy - a place of care for the elderly and palliatively ill (30 people). For several years, we have also been running a center for children and young people and organizing summer camps.

For the past two years, that is, since the start of the full-scale war, we have been involved in helping war victims. We house refugees in our monastery and have bought and furnished new apartments for several families who lost their belongings in the air raids. Thanks to this, several families have found a new home in Podolia. Widows who lost their husbands in the war are also under our care at the moment.

For many families and the sick for whom we could not provide proper care in Ukraine, we enabled them to go to Poland, where they were welcomed in our monasteries.

Currently, our activities are focused on helping children and young people. They are the silent victims of this war. It is important to know that many of the young have been out of school for several years (first the pandemic and then the war). So, they have a huge backlog in their studies and in building social relationships. In Ukraine, villages are sometimes many kilometers apart, and when school transportation is not functioning, children have no way to meet together. Our center is currently used by about 60 people, and during the vacations 120 people took part in the summer camps. We are slowly preparing for the next edition of summer camps. As last year, our Polish seminarians, who work with youth and the poor in Podolia as volunteers, will help.

Our latest project is a new foundation in the city of Khmelnytskyi. Due to financial difficulties and the ongoing war, we are taking small steps for now.

With fraternal greetings,
Fr. Lukasz, CP