‘I Am the Wife of a Hero’

July 15, 2026

Widows and orphans of fallen Ukrainian soldiers escape the daily reality of war on a pilgrimage through Poland organized by the Knights

By Jarosław Herman

July 15, 2026

Ukrainian widows and orphans of fallen soldiers stand outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw during a one-day visit to the Polish capital. — Ukrainian widows and orphans of fallen soldiers stand outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw during a one-day visit to the Polish capital as part of the Pilgrimage of Hope, March 21-27. Organized by Polish and Ukrainian Knights of Columbus, the pilgrimage brought the group to Radom, Warsaw, Częstochowa and Kraków for spiritual support and respite from the war. (Photo by Jan Walczewski)

Six-year-old Adela gently pets the family dog in the quiet home of her Polish hosts. No sirens wail outside. No drones hum in the sky. Back in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, her reality was completely different. For 12 agonizing months, her father was listed as missing in action. Finally, his death on the eastern front was confirmed, and his funeral took place on Feb. 24, the fourth anniversary of the war.

For a week, from March 21-27, Adela and her mother, Khrystyna Pivniuk, found a safe place to rest in Poland as part of the Pilgrimage of Hope, organized by Polish and Ukrainian Knights of Columbus and funded by the Knights of Columbus Ukraine Solidarity Fund. The pilgrimage brought 45 widows and orphans of fallen Ukrainian soldiers to the spiritual sites of Radom, Warsaw, Częstochowa and Kraków.

“We invited people directly affected by the war to come to Poland for two purposes,” explained Supreme Warden Andrzej Anasiak. “First, we need witnesses to what is happening in Ukraine. And second, we realize that these people are suffering very much, and we wanted to give them a safe place to rest.”

THE WOUNDS LEFT BEHIND

“I am the wife of a hero,” Pivniuk said firmly. “No matter how much I begged him, no matter how I asked him to stay …” Her voice broke, but she continued: “My husband said, ‘If not me, then who will protect my family and my relatives?’”

She recalled constantly praying for his safe return. A year later, she received DNA confirmation that his remains had been found.

She now raises her two children alone in Ivano-Frankivsk, which has been repeatedly struck by Russian drones despite its distance from the front lines. Pivniuk’s youngest daughter, Adela, feels her father’s absence profoundly.

Ukrainian widows of fallen soldiers visit the chapel of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. — Ukrainian widows of fallen soldiers visit the chapel of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw during the Pilgrimage of Hope, organized by Polish and Ukrainian Knights of Columbus, March 21-27. (Photo by Jan Walczewski)

“I thought that this trip would be, first of all, important and good for her,” Pivniuk said. “At home everything reminds her of her father.”

Myroslav Baidiuk, a district deputy from St. Demetrius Council 17293 in Ivano-Frankivsk and a professional tour operator, escorted the families across the border and drove the bus throughout the pilgrimage.

“When I went to Kyiv to pick them up, I saw the pain they all carry — the children, the women,” Baidiuk said.

A SPARK OF HOPE

Father Vitalii Martsyniuk, chaplain of Sts. Borys and Hlib Council 17740 in Fastiv, Ukraine, who served during the pilgrimage alongside another Ukrainian priest, described it as a deeply unifying experience.

“The communities we are forming today at the parishes are united by shared pain, suffering and endurance,” he said. “And to better establish communication between the different centers, we decided to organize a pilgrimage abroad.”

Father Martsyniuk led a three-day Lenten retreat for the group in Radom, preaching on suffering, conversion and, ultimately, hope. True hope, he explained, is gritty and demanding.

“It does not consist in the fact that everything is easy,” Father Martsyniuk said. “And maybe this is exactly how God works in our lives. He doesn’t always rebuild everything at once. But he gives the strength to take the first step.”

The impact of the pilgrimage reached beyond those directly affected by the war, explained Supreme Warden Anasiak.

“It could seem that a priest from Ukraine is merely giving examples concerning his own people in this difficult situation,” he observed. “But in reality, he was directing his words to each of us.”

Father Wiesław Lenartowicz, pastor of Our Lady of Częstochowa Parish and chaplain of Our Lady of Częstochowa Queen of Poland Council 14004 in Radom, warmly welcomed the pilgrims.

“For many, this is also an experience of the Church, because these are people of various confessions, or nonbelievers, and they suddenly discover the power of faith, the strength of faith, which influences our action,” Father Lenartowicz said. “For us who organized the pilgrimage, it will bring equally great fruits as for those who came to us.”

The group also made a one-day trip to Warsaw, where they visited the Presidential Palace. Pivniuk recalled asking Father Martsyniuk when they were going home. When he asked, “Are you eager to go back to Ukraine?” her response was immediate.

“I said, no, to Radom,” she smiled. “It is like home to me.”

‘GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US’

For participants like Liuba Atamaniuk, the pilgrimage offered a spiritual anchor.

“I am the wife of a hero who gave his life for our Ukraine,” she said. “I never call myself a widow; to me, my husband is always alive. He lives on in the facial features and the gaze of our son, and his character shows through in our daughter’s personality.”

Participants in the Pilgrimage of Hope hold a shell casing recovered from a battlefield in Ukraine and painted by hand. — Participants in the Pilgrimage of Hope hold a shell casing recovered from a battlefield in Ukraine and painted by hand during the pilgrimage in Poland. The shell serves as a sign of remembrance and resilience amid the ongoing war. (Photo by Jan Walczewski)

Yet the experience of loss cannot be easily overcome.

“My heart breaks when I sit in his seat and remember our conversations and our plans,” she continued. “All our dreams were shattered so unexpectedly.”

To find the strength to carry this heavy cross, she needed to step away from the war.

“I needed this pilgrimage. I needed this encounter with God, alongside people who carry their own joys and tragedies to the Lord,” she said. “Quiet prayer, the beads of the rosary in my hand, a sincere confession, the teachings of the priests, and that tremor in the heart from the realization of God’s great presence — these are extraordinary emotions that can only be experienced on a pilgrimage.”

Atamaniuk shared how the pilgrimage led them to Częstochowa, Poland’s spiritual capital, where they entrusted their lives to the care of Our Lady of Częstochowa.

“You see in her eyes a peace that seems to speak only to you: ‘Everything is fine, my child,’” Atamaniuk said.

The journey concluded in Kraków, where St. John Paul II attended seminary and later served as archbishop.

For Atamaniuk, the Knights fostered a sense of community among the widows.

“Bringing together women from different regions of Ukraine showed everyone that our tragedy is shared by all,” she reflected. “But we are not alone in our grief — God is always with us.”

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

*****

JAROSŁAW HERMAN is a member of Blessed Michael Sopoćko Council 17667 in Kraków, Poland.

Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki of Lviv pray at the grave of a fallen soldier at Mars Field in Lviv.

‘I Am the Wife of a Hero’

THE WOUNDS LEFT BEHIND

A SPARK OF HOPE

‘GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US’

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