By Michael J.L. La Civita, Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA)

CNEWA President Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, joined by the national director for CNEWA in Canada, Dr. Adriana Bara, and program officer Anna Dombrovska, recently visited the many humanitarian works of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church which are supported by CNEWA and funded by countless donors from across North America.

Since the Russian-led invasion in February of 2022, nearly $5.7 million (CDN) has been disbursed by CNEWA Canada, thanks to Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

The quick pastoral visit was both a visit of solidarity with the suffering of the people of Ukraine and an ongoing effort to demonstrate the prayerful support, informed awareness and extraordinary generosity of CNEWA’s donors to care for Ukrainians displaced by war to northwestern Ukraine.

The delegation visited project initiatives in and around the city of Lviv, including child care programs organized by Ukrainian Catholic University for children orphaned or separated from their families by war and displaced children with special needs; health care initiatives and palliative care measures for the displaced at Sheptytsky Hospital; a food distribution center in Novoyavorivsk; as well as meetings with the major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk; the president of Caritas Ukraine, Tetiana Stawnychy; Basilian monks and Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate.

Dr. Adriana Bara, National Director of CNEWA Canada, who accompanied the senior leadership team of CNEWA on their journey to Ukraine was grateful — and yet taken aback by the visit.

“The experience of being with our partners and the people of Ukraine during this most troubling time in their history was rewarding, yet incredibly tragic,” she said.

Members of the CNEWA delegation, including Dr. Bara, transited through Poland on June 7 and are now safely on their way back home. They will be available to media as of June 9.

[Continue to learn about CNEWA’s work in Ukraine by visiting cnewa.ca or following the organization on Facebook (@CNEWACanada), Twitter (@CnewaC) and Instagram @cnewacanada.]

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