(OSV News) ─ As the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) continues its remarkable recovery from decades of suppression under Soviet rule, a decades-long effort by U.S. Catholics to support its rebuilding is set to receive renewed focus this Ash Wednesday, .
The annual Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, launched under St. John Paul II as communist regimes began to fall, will be taken up in many U.S. Dioceses, providing crucial funding for the UGCC and other Catholic institutions across 28 nations formerly under communist control. To date, the collection has channeled over $230 million to thousands of projects.
The story of the UGCC’s resurgence is inextricably linked to the fall of the Soviet Union and the return of Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky to Ukraine in – a journey that profoundly impacted a young Father Kenneth Nowakowski, then working for the cardinal in Rome. Bishop Nowakowski, now of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family in London, recalls the shock and elation of witnessing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians lining the roads from the airport to St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv to greet their spiritual leader.
Cardinal Lubachivsky’s return marked a pivotal moment for a Church that had been driven underground in when Soviet authorities formally “liquidated” its structures. Prior to his return, the cardinal had led the UGCC in exile from Philadelphia, succeeding Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, who himself had endured 18 years in Soviet prisons for his faith. Both he and his predecessor, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, faced repeated arrests by Russian authorities for their religious convictions.
The UGCC’s revival, however, has not been solely a Ukrainian endeavor. Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the current head of the UGCC, attributes a significant portion of its success to the sustained generosity of U.S. Catholics. “Because of this worldwide solidarity, because of this specific act of mercy, you helped us not only to come forth from the catacombs, but to rebuild our very presence in Ukrainian society,” he told OSV News.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has overseen the annual collection since , directing funds to support a wide range of initiatives. These include infrastructure development, pastoral programs for families and youth, Catholic education, media outreach, seminarian training, evangelization efforts, and pro-life ministries. The program currently awards an average of $7.6 million annually to approximately 300 projects.
Bishop Gerald L. Vincke of Salina, Kansas, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, emphasized the profound impact of the program. “I see the incredible good that is happening,” he said. “Just to be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters — and they are our brothers and sisters ─ it means the world to them, to know that they can count on us to help them, to care for them and really just be a presence in their life.”
Bishop Nowakowski highlighted specific examples of how the collection has aided the UGCC in Ukraine, including the establishment of a television studio for religious programming and the provision of essential resources for seminarians – meals, bedding, books – and religious orders whose properties had been confiscated during the Soviet era. He noted that the U.S. Bishops and their charitable partners “came, listened and helped us achieve those dreams.”
The ongoing war in Ukraine, initiated by Russia in and escalating significantly in recent years, has added a new layer of urgency to the collection’s work. Auxiliary Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton of Detroit, a former chair and current member of the USCCB Subcommittee, who visited Ukraine in , underscored the importance of continued solidarity. He observed that rebuilding a country devastated by seven decades of oppression is a long-term undertaking, particularly for a Church that faced systematic persecution.
Bishop Monforton noted that in many former Soviet bloc countries, churches seized by communist officials were never returned to the Catholic Church, forcing them to rebuild from scratch. He cited Belarus as an example, while acknowledging that even in countries like Bulgaria, the effects of communism continue to linger, fostering a sense of hopelessness.
In contrast, Poland, having undergone a remarkable transformation, no longer requires assistance from the collection and now provides aid to other nations in need. The collection’s ultimate aim is to replicate that turnaround across all the countries it serves.
Bishop Vincke described a recent visit to Bulgaria, where he observed a persistent “lack of hope” among the population. He explained that the collection supports initiatives like a Catholic radio station, providing a platform for sharing the Gospel and offering a message of hope. The Church is also working to train clergy and pastoral staff to address the trauma experienced by many in these nations.
“One bishop from Eastern Europe told me, ‘Through you, the Church in America, we feel the power of the whole Church helping with us and being with us,’” Bishop Vincke said. “In all these places, it’s one building at a time, one stepping stone at a time that’s helping them, and giving them hope — one day at a time.”
Donations to the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe can be made online at https://www.igivecatholic.org/story/USCCB-CCEE.
