Salesian Family Welcomes Ukrainian Refugees

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me...” (Matt 25:35)

The Salesian Family Welcomes Ukrainian Refugees

(ANS – Rome – March 14, 2022) – The war in Ukraine has given rise to an important flow of generosity. These days, initiatives to collect funds, basic necessities, and direct hospitality for the Ukrainian population fleeing the war are proliferating. Here are the latest updates.

As soon as he received the task of supervising the implementation of Salesian activities, services, and programs in the field throughout the territory directly involved, Fr. Krzysztof Grzendziński, treasurer of the Warsaw Province of Poland, got in touch with Fr. Jacek Zdzieborski, head of the Salesian Mission Office in Warsaw. They discussed how to make the information and communication service on Salesian actions more effective in this situation.

In addition, work has begun to tighten the network with those involved in the country’s other provinces – Krakow, Wroclaw, and Pila – and in Slovakia and Ukraine. The intention is to focus more on helping “host families” who receive refugees in their homes. Work is also being done in favor of orphans and the creation of an asylum. And another idea that has emerged is to create a database on job opportunities to offer Ukrainian refugee parents.

In terms of economic aid to the provinces on the front line, donations continue to arrive from all over the Salesian world. People in the U.S. and Canada may assist the Salesians of Ukraine and Poland thru Salesian Missions and the New Rochelle Province treasurer’s office.

Even at the level of groups of the Salesian Family, we can report direct and committed participation in solidarity: this is witnessed by the global initiatives promoted by groups such as the Salesian Cooperators and the Salesian Sisters.

As for hospitality, then, if it is true that the lion’s share is made by the provinces closest to the western borders of Ukraine, several provinces throughout Europe are also finding more and more spaces to host those in need. Because, as Fr. Giovanni D’Andrea, provincial of the Salesians of Sicily recalled, “it is a commitment that goes well beyond the collection of money or material, it is a question of sharing their dramatic experience with any refugees.”

So on Sunday, March 13, the association Don Bosco 2000, which works with the Salesians of Sicily, with Fr. Marcin Kaznowski, provincial of Krakow, organized a bus to bring 48 women and children from Przemysl, Poland, to Alcamo, Sicily. 36 of these refugees will be housed in a structure of the association, and 12 in families who have given their availability.

In the Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta Province, the number of Salesian families and communities who have made themselves available to host refugees has risen to 118. In Chieri, in agreement with the Salesians of Lviv, with some families, and with the city government, the Salesians organized the journey and the reception of 31 refugees (mothers, children, and adolescents), who arrived at their destination on March 11.

Finally, the last front, the spiritual one, should not be forgotten either. Here, too, the initiatives are innumerable. Just to mention a few: the secretariat of the Salesian Youth Movement in Piedmont proposes that on every Monday evening of Lent the Rosary be recited in common to implore peace. The students, Salesians, and staff of the Salesian Institute of Macao, China, gathered in a moment of prayer for peace in Ukraine on March 4.

After the First Week of War

After the First Week of War...

Report from a Polish SDB in Ukraine

(ANS – Korostyshiv, Ukraine – March 4, 2022) – Fr. Michal Wocial, a Salesian from the Poland-Kracow Province serving in Ukraine, shared information and considerations through social networks after the first week of war: “Most things suddenly stopped, and it’s been a week that my life has been revolving around one topic. And to think I was supposed to finish my doctorate....”

On Tuesday night, rockets fell within a kilometer of our school. As a result of the attack, 10 homes were destroyed. Several windows fell out in our building. I spent the night in the basement of the school, along with dozens of other people. And I decided to keep the oil for the anointing of the sick with me constantly.

On Wednesday [March 2] at 7 a.m. we left in a 7-car convoy for the Polish border to deport the women and children. The plan was simple. The men would leave their families at the crosswalk and return to Zhytomyr.

Unfortunately, after 120 miles our school bus suffered a major engine failure and was unable to go any further. Broken at a time when we needed it so much to transport people and humanitarian aid.

Once again I was very impressed by the solidarity of the population. A few minutes after the accident, there was someone who took us to the mechanic. Within an hour and a half, we had another car that drove our passengers 155 miles to the border and wanted nothing in return.

At the border, we found out that there was a big queue at the Corczow crossing and that we had to stay in the cold all night. We found other kind local people who transported our passengers in their cars to Szegini. There the crossing took about 40 minutes. We went to sleep at 3 a.m. And for the first time in as long as I can remember, I did not attend Ash Wednesday Mass.

Today [Thursday, March 3 - ed.] another group of 30 people drove to the Polish border. Among them – our students. Will they return? When? What will become of our school after 27 years of existence?

Tomorrow we will organize the transportation of 50 people. Probably the last convoy, because the Ukrainian railways have started the evacuation trains....

There are more and more neighbors who want to use our basement as a shelter. Many of us have a phone app called “Air Raid Alert.” It is impressive when you suddenly hear sirens blaring from multiple pockets at once.

Among the people in our “basement shelter” are a handful of children and teenagers. I bring them all kinds of games from the youth center so they have something to pass the time. I offer them bedtime thoughts and a prayer. None of them are Catholic, but almost all of them came today to pray for 15 minutes for peace.

Humanitarian aid is starting to flow in, and we need to think about how best to use it.

We are slowly getting used to the new pace of war. In many things, we are making “war allowance.” Today we passed the police at high speed on the road. They paid no attention to us – they have more important things to think about.