The Romanian Orthodox Church continues to support Ukrainian refugees

The Romanian Orthodox Church continues to provide aid and shelter for the Ukrainian refugees and to pray, including through new petitions and prayers in public liturgical services, for the end of the war.

From the very outset of the conflict, the Romanian Orthodox Church has carried out an ample activity for the Ukrainian refugees on multiple levels: social, philanthropic and spiritual. The details, published by the Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate at the end of March 2022, paint a clear image of the extent of the efforts and aid put in place by the Romanian Orthodox Church:

- ajutăcubucurie.ro, an online platform created by the Romanian Patriarchate in collaboration with the Filantropia Federation, raised a total of 17,450 lei and 340 euros.

- 1,926 priests and volunteers were added as participants in charitable actions between 18-24 March 2022.

- the humanitarian support granted during the last days of March amounted to 1,358,889 lei, consisting of money and products (hot food, food products, baby food, sanitary products, medicines, blankets, clothing, toys, etc.)

-Ukrainian refugees benefitted from several types of social services (translation – 9,427 beneficiaries; counselling and guidance – 8,944 beneficiaries; medical assistance – 164 beneficiaries; education – 6,741 beneficiaries; logistical support, consisting of shelter – tent/containers and transport). Until the middle of March, the same services were provided to the larger groups of refugees fleeing from the conflict zone (translation – 42,707 beneficiaries; counselling and guidance – 29,587 beneficiaries; and medical assistance – 9,048 beneficiaries).

- places for refugees currently amount to 11,018, of which 7,301 include meal services.

- by the middle of March, 128 humanitarian aid transports were already carried out at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, 47 into Ukraine and 10 in the Republic of Moldova. By the end of the month, 62 additional shipments were made in Romania, seven to Ukraine and two to the Republic of Moldova. The value of these new humanitarian aid transports amounted to 977,862 lei.

- the campaign of the Romanian Patriarchate “Donate blood for Ukraine” continued with 342 new donors. The initiative had a previous development between March 2-8, 2022, in collaboration with the medical staff of the Blood Transfusion Centre of the Ministry of National Defense.

- between March 18-24, 2022, the humanitarian aid offered by the Romanian Orthodox Church’s dioceses and the Filantropia Federation amounted to 2,529,456 lei.

-the total aid provided by the Romanian Orthodox Church since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine until March 31, 2022, is 26,224,213 lei (5.2 million Euros).

Moreover, the Romanian Patriarchate denounced publicly the unjustness of the war and the amplitude of the suffering brought upon the Ukrainians.

Read the message His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania launched in the morning of February 24, 2022- https://basilica.ro/en/patriarch-daniel-calls-for-end-to-war-in-ukraine-urges-prayers-for-peace/

Source: basilica.ro