Several trucks are preparing to leave the Basilica of St Sophia in Rome, a collection center and focal point for solidarity with Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

On board are around 600 boxes of winter clothing, blankets, bed linen and food, collected from 22 to 24 October as part of an initiative organized by the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, in collaboration with the Governorate of Vatican City State. The donations reflect the generosity of numerous Holy See employees.

The initiative was prompted by a conflict that, as Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, the Papal Almoner, explains, “cannot leave us indifferent as Christians, for whom love is central”.

The supplies will be delivered to ecclesial and charitable organizations in Kyiv, which will distribute them to those in need.

 “The response has been excellent,” says the Augustinian archbishop. “I am deeply grateful for the generosity shown, which reflects a profound sensitivity to the suffering of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters.”

Archbishop Marín de San Martín has words of thanks also for the staff of the Dicastery for collecting and sorting the large volume of donations received. He explains that the aim was to put charity at the center of the initiative, “not in a theoretical sense, but in an eminently practical and concrete way”.

“Each of us felt personally challenged to consider how we could contribute, however modestly,” he says.

“The immediate response speaks of the sensitivity of the people who work at the Vatican. It has truly been a beautiful witness of the Church.”

Visit to Ukraine

The collection was organized ahead of Archbishop Marín de San Martín’s visit to Ukraine, arranged through the Apostolic Nunciature. Beginning on 27 October, the three-day mission will see him accompanied by Massimo Ralli, Undersecretary of the Dicastery.

The visit is intended to express solidarity with a population enduring the effects of a war that has continued for nearly five years. The mission also involves the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Latin-rite Catholic Church.

The program, which runs until 30 October, includes visits to communities and institutions in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Fastiv.

“We want to understand people’s needs firsthand and meet the local population: real people, with real faces,” the Papal Almoner says. “Above all, we want to bring them the Holy Father’s concern and tender care. In their suffering, they are not alone.”

Trucks carrying medicines

Since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Holy See has continued to provide assistance in response to the needs of the population. Access to medicines, particularly life-saving treatments, remains a major concern, as essential supplies are often lacking.

In recent weeks, four truckloads of medicines supplied through Banco Farmaceutico, an Italian pharmaceutical aid organization, have arrived in Ukraine. The medicines are valued at approximately €20 million and include more than 200,000 packs of a very recent-generation oral anticoagulant that is expensive, life-saving and extremely difficult to obtain in the country.

“We pray earnestly to God, in His infinite mercy, to grant peace to Ukraine,” Archbishop Marín de San Martín concludes. “Peace is one of the defining characteristics of the love that identifies us as Christians.”