Dear Sisters and Brothers,
On Ash Wednesday, our diocese will take up the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. I ask for your support to this important mission. From 1922 to 1991 the Ukrainian people lived under a repressive communist government that restricted both religious and cultural practice. In that time, Ukrainians faced multiple wars that left a suffering people in their wake. Still today, Ukraine is rebuilding from this difficult past.
Eastern Ukraine especially suffered for many years as a stronghold of communism. The Catholic faith was illegal or restricted, so atheism grew stronger and family values deteriorated. Today the Church is working to rebuild these values.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine, women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies believe that abortion might be their only answer. Many of these women grew up as orphans themselves. But, you have given these women an option to protect life. Over the years, our diocese’s generosity to the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe has made it possible to create two homes for single mothers where they can live with their children. While living in these homes, women receive help with childcare and employment. Not only have you helped these women choose life, but you also have given them the tools to create stable living and working situations for themselves and their children.
Please be generous to the collection this year. Your support gives mothers the help they need to bring new life into the world. For more information about the collection and who it supports, visit www.usccb.org/ccee. Thank you for your help to restore the Church and build the future in Central and Eastern Europe.
Yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan D.D.
Bishop of Camden
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