Food shipment feeds hundreds at parish, orphanage and school in Ukraine

CNA Staff   By CNA Staff

November 16, 2022 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 1 Print

 

Salesian missions shipped food and medical supplies to Zhytomyr in war-torn Ukraine. / Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions USA

CNA Newsroom, Nov 16, 2022 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Amid concern over new missile strikes and ongoing prayer by Pope Francis for Ukraine, hundreds of youth and families in the war-torn country recently received nutritional support from the U.S.

Food for 360 people was first shipped to Salesians in Poland and then transported to Zhytomyr, a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine.

The food aid is the result of a partnership between Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, and Feed My Starving Children, a nonprofit Christian organization committed to “feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit.”

The Teterivka Orphanage and Boarding House, the Vsesvit Salesian School, and Korostyshiv Catholic Church received the goods. Over two weeks, Salesians distributed approximately 48 boxes of rice to the people connected to these organizations.

Salesians have been working with the Korostyshiv Catholic Church since 1994 and have worked at Vsesvit Salesian school for the last five years. While Salesians are not working directly with the Teterivka Orphanage and Boarding House, the children there have disabilities and need specialized care. Their only source of funding is from the government, which has decreased since the outbreak of the war.

One Salesian missionary said: “With the support of Feed My Starving Children, we have been able to step in and distribute food packages to the children who have been greatly impacted and humbled with the support.”

Along with the food shipment, Salesian Missions also sent medical supplies provided by Matter, an organization that offers corporate surplus to places and people who need these lifesaving resources the most. The medical supplies were provided to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of the Eastern Rite in Ukraine and then dispersed to the Salesian community in Zhytomyr, among other sites. The supplies are being used in local hospitals and for people in need.

Soon after the war started, Salesian Missions launched a Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund that is helping to provide shelter, nutrition, and supplies to refugees in need.

Pope Francis on Wednesday raised concern about the potential for escalation in the war in Ukraine. NATO held emergency talks on Wednesday morning after Poland was struck by a missile, killing two people, according to the Associated Press.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the missile that hit Poland late on Tuesday was “likely” caused by the activity of Ukraine’s air defense systems, BBC News reported.

“Let us pray that the Lord will convert the hearts of those who still insist on war, and make the desire for peace prevail for martyred Ukraine, to avoid any escalation and open the way to a cease-fire and dialogue,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis also prayed that the Lord would grant the Ukrainians “consolation, strength in trials and hope for peace.” He said: “We can pray for Ukraine, saying, ‘Hurry up Lord.’”

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The Magi reach Bethlehem, finding smaller crowd of faithful amid ongoing war

January 7, 2024 Catholic News Agency 0
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, three Franciscan friars portrayed the Magi in Bethlehem. After the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, they descended in the Grotto of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, where they brought their gifts to the places of Jesus’ manifestation. / Credit: Marinella Bandini

Bethlehem, West Bank, Jan 7, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The Magi arrived in Bethlehem this year bearing their gifts, as the faithful held out their hands for grains of incense and drops of myrrh in the annual reenactment of the Epiphany by the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land.

On the afternoon of Jan. 6, after the Second Vespers of the Epiphany and the adoration of the Baby Jesus in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, three Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land portraying the Magi, distributed gifts (only incense and myrrh) to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister of St. Catherine church in Bethlehem. Credit: Marinella Bandini
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, after the Second Vespers of the Epiphany and the adoration of the Baby Jesus in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, three Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land portraying the Magi, distributed gifts (only incense and myrrh) to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister of St. Catherine church in Bethlehem. Credit: Marinella Bandini

The afternoon celebration on Jan. 6 brought together a small crowd of believers, young and old, in the Latin Church of Saint Catherine, part of the complex of the Basilica of the Nativity.

The Magi made their appearance for the recitation of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, marking the conclusion of the solemnity and also the end of the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem.

After the prayer, the friars, the Magi, and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, who presided over the prayer, descended into the Grotto of the Nativity, bringing gold, incense, and myrrh to the sacred place of Jesus’ manifestation.

The gold was in the form of the rose donated by Paul VI to the Basilica of the Nativity, carried as a tradition by the guardian of the Franciscan convent in Bethlehem, currently Father Luis Enrique Segovia. The Secretary of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Alberto Pari, and the priest responsible for the friars’ infirmary, Father Jad Sara, carried the gifts of incense and myrrh, which they then distributed to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister.

The three gifts of the Magi — gold, incense, and myrrh — were placed on the altar of the Church of Santa Caterina in Bethlehem during the celebration of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, on the afternoon of Jan. 6. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The three gifts of the Magi — gold, incense, and myrrh — were placed on the altar of the Church of Santa Caterina in Bethlehem during the celebration of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, on the afternoon of Jan. 6. Credit: Marinella Bandini

This usually crowded event has been affected by the absence of pilgrims, as was the solemn entrance that took place on the morning of Jan. 5. For the second time in a month, the Custos of the Holy Land found himself walking through deserted streets. Local Christians had completely boycotted the “street” events commemorating the feast amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton walked through empty Bethlehem streets during the solemn entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton walked through empty Bethlehem streets during the solemn entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity. Credit: Marinella Bandini

The Custos acknowledged the absence of pilgrims and said the time was ripe for their return.

“Seeing that the Magi, that is, the pilgrims in Bethlehem, are missing, I invite all those who wish to come on pilgrimage to make an effort and come anyway. The holy places are open for visits! People need the encounter with pilgrims! We pray, hope, and insist that pilgrims return, so that there may be peace!” he said in an interview with the Christian Media Center.

Peace is the word that has marked not only the past months but especially the day of the Epiphany, exactly 60 years after Paul VI’s visit to the Holy Land and the celebration in the Grotto of the Nativity. The Custos of the Holy Land, who presided over the solemn Mass in the morning, wore the same chasuble as Paul VI, and used the same chalice: a sign of continuity with the message of that pope and his appeal for peace, addressed to heads of state and political and religious leaders.

“We feel the urgent duty to renew … our urgent appeal for world peace. May those in power hear this cry from our hearts and continue generously their efforts to ensure humanity the peace it so ardently aspires to; so that the world can at all costs avoid the anguish and torments of a new world war, the consequences of which would be incalculable,” Father Patton said.

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