Ash Wednesday & Church Rebirth: Hope for Central/East Europe

A Ukrainian Catholic priest recalls a historic homecoming for a cardinal in 1991, as a U.S. Catholic fundraising effort continues to support the Church in Central and Eastern Europe decades after the fall of communism.

Cardinal Lubachivsky’s Historic Return

In March 1991, Father Kenneth Nowakowski, then a young Canadian-born Ukrainian Catholic priest, accompanied Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky on a flight to Ukraine. The cardinal was returning to his homeland for the first time since 1938, after decades of Soviet repression that forced the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church underground.

Cardinal Lubachivsky had previously served as the Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia while overseeing the church in exile, succeeding Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, who spent 18 years in Soviet prisons for his faith. His predecessor, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, also faced multiple arrests by czarist Russian authorities.

Upon landing in Lviv, still part of the Soviet Union at the time, Bishop Nowakowski, now of London, described being “shocked” by the massive crowds that greeted them. “There were hundreds of thousands of people lining the road from the airport to St. George’s Cathedral,” he said. “It was clear that this was something exciting.”

Resurrection of the UGCC and U.S. Support

Since Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1991, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) – formally “liquidated” by Soviet authorities in 1946 – has grown to become the largest of the 23 Eastern Catholic churches, representing approximately 12% of Ukraine’s population.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the current leader of the UGCC, credits the Church’s revival in part to the generosity of U.S. Catholics. Since 1991, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has held an annual Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, supporting the Catholic Church in 28 current nations.

Launched under St. John Paul II as communist regimes collapsed, the collection has provided over $230 million in funding for thousands of projects. Donations can be made directly online at https://www.igivecatholic.org/…. The appeal will take place in many U.S. dioceses on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18).

“I’m a child of the underground Church (in Ukraine),” Major Archbishop Shevchuk said. “Because of this worldwide solidarity… you helped us not only to come forth from the catacombs, but to rebuild our very presence in Ukrainian society.”

Ongoing Needs and Impact of the Collection

Bishop Gerald L. Vincke of Salina, Kansas, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, expressed his privilege in the role, noting the “incredible good” that is happening. Jennifer Healy, USCCB director of Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, said the grant program awards an annual average of $7.6 million to support some 300 projects.

These projects encompass church infrastructure, pastoral programs for families and youth, Catholic education and media, seminarian training, evangelization, and pro-life ministries. The USCCB responds directly to the needs identified by local bishops.

Bishop Nowakowski highlighted how the collection helped the UGCC open a television studio for religious programming and fund the training of priests, providing essential resources like meals, bedding, and books for seminarians, as well as supporting religious orders whose properties were confiscated during Soviet repression.

Auxiliary Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton of Detroit, a member of the USCCB Subcommittee, emphasized the importance of “solidarity among brothers and sisters in Christ,” particularly as Ukraine continues to grapple with the effects of Russia’s ongoing war, which began in 2014.

Bishop Monforton noted that rebuilding a church devastated by seven decades of oppression takes time, and in some countries, churches seized by communist officials were never returned, requiring new construction. He pointed to Belarus as an example.

Bishop Vincke observed that the effects of communism “still linger” in countries like Bulgaria, creating “a lack of hope” among the people. The collection supports initiatives like a Catholic radio station in Bulgaria to provide encouragement.

The collection also supports trauma care for those affected by conflict, particularly in Ukraine, by training clergy and pastoral staff. Bishop Vincke shared a sentiment from an Eastern European bishop: “Through you, the Church in America, we feel the power of the whole Church helping with us and being with us.”