CEO of Renovabis to the bishops of the UGCC: We want to encourage and help so that your Church bears witness to the living God even in times of war

Sunday, 10 July 2022, 22:42

On Saturday, July 9, before the bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who gathered for the Synod in Przemyśl (Poland), Fr. Thomas Schwartz, the general manager of the charitable foundation of German Catholics Renovabis spoke with words of solidarity and support.

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In his speech to the Synod, Fr. Tomas expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people and presented the program and priorities of the Renovabis fund to support the needy during the war.

“We want to encourage you as Church that was a martyr Church, which suffered a lot and is suffering with people, for people and between people. We, Renovabis, want to help you so that the testimony of the living God is the testimony of your Church even in this situation, where there is so much death around. Because in times of war you are going through now, spiritual help is far more important than any financial one. And it is provided by priests. But in order to be able to give spiritual support to people, priests themselves must have some minimum of maintenance for their families, for their own lives,” mentioned Fr. Thomas Schwartz.

The meeting with the bishops of the UGCC was also an opportunity for the Renovabis Management to hear from the bishops themselves and better understand what their needs truly are.

His Beatitude Svyatoslav thanked Father Thomas, the entire team of Renovabis and German Catholics for the support of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, particularly the clergy, as well as the entire Ukrainian people and Ukraine, especially during the war.

He added: “In Ukraine, in hard times, people do not look for social services, but for a priest or a monastery. Thank you that with your help we can save lives”.

Before visiting Przemyśl, Fr. Thomas Schwartz visited several Ukrainian cities to personally touch the wounds of the war and see all the tragedy associated with it. This is his first visit to Ukraine since his appointment as CEO of Renovabis in September 2021.

He also noted how appalled he was at the sight of Bucha. After visiting Irpin, on the contrary, he was inspired by people’s faith, who, at the parishes of the UGCC, are helping those who are less fortunate than them. “I experienced the same thing when I came to Lviv and saw all these initiatives, for example, Caritas, as well as parishes, and the Ukrainian Catholic University”.

“Renovabis will not cease helping you in every possible way, the head of the German charitable foundation assured.

The UGCC Department for Information