Standing Together Against Indifference

April 8, 2026

Knights work side by side with representatives of the Vatican to alleviate suffering in war-torn Ukraine

By Kateryna Kolodii

April 8, 2026

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski visits the Knights of Columbus humanitarian aid warehouse in Briukhovychi, Ukraine. — Cardinal Konrad Krajewski (center) visits the Knights of Columbus humanitarian aid warehouse in Briukhovychi, Ukraine, in March 2022. Joining the cardinal are Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki of Lviv (left) and then-State Deputy Yuriy Maletskiy (right). (Photo by Tamino Petelinšek)

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, support from the Vatican’s humanitarian missions has been ongoing, integrated closely with the untiring efforts of the Knights of Columbus.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, former papal almoner and newly appointed archbishop of Łódź, Poland, has visited Ukraine more than a dozen times since the outbreak of the war in 2022, often traveling to the front lines to personally deliver aid and pray with war-ravaged communities. During his visits, he frequently enlisted the help of Knights to assist with on-the-ground support. The visits showed the Vatican’s encouragement of the Order’s work in the country, said Past State Deputy of Ukraine Yuriy Maletskiy.

“Every time he came here, Cardinal Krajewski showed support from his side for the actions of the Knights in Ukraine,” Maletskiy said.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and then-State Deputy Yuriy Maletskiy examine a holy card of Blessed Michael McGivney. — Cardinal Konrad Krajewski (left) and then-State Deputy Yuriy Maletskiy examine a holy card of Blessed Michael McGivney during the cardinal’s visit to Ukraine in March 2022. (Photo by Tamino Petelinšek)

A MINISTRY OF PRESENCE

Upon becoming papal almoner in 2013, Cardinal Krajewski’s first order from Pope Francis was to “sell my desk,” he recalled. “I was to go out of the Vatican. I was to be among the poor — to eat with them, and, if necessary, to sleep among them.”

The conviction that true solidarity requires proximity is shared by Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine.

“I strongly believe that it is important for Catholics — just as for leaders of international organizations, including the Church and the Knights of Columbus — to come to Ukraine and have personal contact with people,” Archbishop Kulbokas said.

In the earliest days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, when many diplomatic missions fled Kyiv, Archbishop Kulbokas remained.

“The nunciature and the nuncio stayed in Kyiv and continued working the entire time,” Maletskiy said, noting that the archbishop demonstrated “the Church does not abandon the people in this difficult time, but is still with them and supports them.”

Archbishop Kulbokas maintains that communal prayer plays a critical part of humanitarian aid in Ukraine, an area where the Knights stand out as leaders.

“The Knights of Columbus are present in many eparchies, dioceses and parishes,” said Archbishop Kulbokas, a member of the Knights who regularly participates in prayer services organized by councils in Kyiv, such as the rosary. “I am grateful to the Knights of Columbus for helping ensure that different communities unite each day in prayer through the rosary.”

Restoring dignity by providing shelter was a priority for both the Vatican and the Order. In Łódź, Poland, homes for Ukrainian refugees were built with the help of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, supported by the Order’s Ukraine Solidarity Fund and other organizations. The homes were blessed by Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, then-archbishop of Łódź and now archbishop of Kraków, on Nov. 17, 2023.

In addition to housing, the conflict has also created an urgent need for medical care. In the south, where missile strikes frequently target infrastructure, the Knights engaged in sustained support for health care facilities. Working in collaboration with Archbishop Kulbokas and the International Catholic Migration Commission — which was established in 1951 under the auspices of Pope Pius XII and maintains ties to the Vatican and collaborates with the Apostolic Nunciature on joint humanitarian projects — the Knights implemented projects to support hospitals in the Diocese of Odesa in southern Ukraine.

“Your aid reaches real people — it’s not absorbed by massive structures where funds vanish,” said Archbishop Kulbokas. “Catholic Church structures in Ukraine are effective, so your help produces direct results.”

Cardinal Krajewski visits the bakery and soup kitchen in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. — Cardinal Krajewski visits the bakery and soup kitchen in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, operated by the Albertine Brothers.

FRONTLINE SURVIVAL

Cooperation between the Knights and the Vatican is also clearly visible in Zaporizhzhia, a city located near the active front line. Here, the Albertine Brothers operate a bakery and soup kitchen that has become a primary source of sustenance for approximately 1,300 to 1,700 people four times a week: homeless individuals, displaced families and war victims who have lost their livelihoods.

The sheer volume of need pushed the brothers’ equipment to the breaking point.

“The Albertine Brothers reported that the oven they used to bake bread — about a thousand loaves a day for people in need — was breaking down,” Cardinal Krajewski explained. “As quickly as possible, we bought a new oven. And the Knights of Columbus immediately joined the effort, providing a flour mixer and other equipment needed to bake bread in large quantities.”

The breakdown threatened to cut off the food supply for the city’s most vulnerable. The Vatican acted swiftly, funding the purchase of a new, industrial-grade bread oven in May 2025.

The Knights of Columbus stepped in to complete the production line, funding and sourcing a heavy-duty industrial dough mixer in November 2025 to match the new oven’s capacity. The Knights previously provided a high-capacity power generator in 2022 to ensure the bakery could continue operating during the frequent blackouts caused by Russian shelling. To keep this system running, the Albertine Brothers in Kraków organize monthly transports of 15–20 tons of food to Zaporizhzhia, some of them co-funded by the Knights.

“This is a beautiful thing — that we complement each other in doing good,” Cardinal Krajewski said of the project. “What the Knights of Columbus do, together with various foundations working on the ground, is deeply effective and restores hope to people.”

State Deputy Mykola Mostovyak and other Knights in Ukraine join bishops and priests at the Cathedral of St. Alexander in Kyiv. — State Deputy Mykola Mostovyak (holding reliquary) and other Knights in Ukraine join bishops and priests — including Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, papal nuncio to Ukraine — following Mass at the Cathedral of St. Alexander in Kyiv on Oct. 19, 2024. The Mass, which took place during Archbishop Lori’s pastoral visit to Ukraine, highlighted the close cooperation between the Order and the Holy See in providing relief to the war-torn country. (Photo by Andrii Gorb)

BULWARK AGAINST DESPAIR

In the eastern part of the country, the cooperation takes the form of a strategic cost-sharing model designed to keep humanitarian corridors open. The humanitarian route from the Knights of Columbus logistics hub in Lviv to Kharkiv covers more than 680 miles. Archbishop Kulbokas identified the Kharkiv exarchate as a priority.

“This is one of the regions facing many challenges, as it is a frontline area,” Archbishop Kulbokas said.

To facilitate aid, the apostolic nuncio donated a transport vehicle to the exarchate. The Knights took on the vehicle’s operational costs, funding fuel to keep the truck moving. Additionally, the Knights supply the cargo itself — food packages and hygiene kits that are already prepared and ready for distribution.

Bishop Vasyl Tuchapets of the Exarchate of Kharkiv noted that these transports often carry 10 tons of aid at a time. While about 2,000 people come to the Kharkiv cathedral on Thursdays to receive help, the exarchate uses the vehicle to reach those who cannot travel, delivering 15-kilogram (33-pound) boxes directly to the homes of the elderly and disabled and prioritizing heavily shelled districts.

“Some families have received help three or four times for the same needs, simply because they need to survive,” Archbishop Kulbokas explained.

In the face of protracted war, cooperation between the Vatican and the Knights of Columbus serves as a bulwark against despair.

“Even small projects are already a part of prayer, of humanity, of closeness,” Archbishop Kulbokas said. “This is a very important weapon against war.”

Cardinal Krajewski echoed these sentiments, highlighting the danger of fading international attention to the situation in Ukraine.

“Those of us who live in peace, who have more than we need — we must guard against indifference,” Cardinal Krajewski said. “It’s the opposite of love — not hatred, but indifference.”

To learn more about the Order’s work in Ukraine and to support those efforts, visit kofc.org/ukraine.

*****

KATERYNA KOLODII writes from Lviv, Ukraine.

The K of C caravan arrives at Sacred Heart Church in Pukatawagan, Manitoba.

Standing Together Against Indifference

A MINISTRY OF PRESENCE

FRONTLINE SURVIVAL

BULWARK AGAINST DESPAIR

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