Help support the Church in Ukraine and in Central and Eastern Europe

In conjunction with Pope Francis’s call for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Ukraine, Catholics in the Diocese of Metuchen will be invited to support the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, especially the Church in Ukraine, where a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. 

Bishop James F. Checchio has asked parishes in the diocese to participate in a special Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, which will allow the faithful to provide assistance to the victims of war in Ukraine and many other projects the Collection supports in the region. While parishes in the Diocese of Metuchen will take up the collection, anyone wishing to donate online is invited to do so by visiting: diometuchen.org/Ukraine.

The special collection, which is facilitated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was already scheduled prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will “help the Church in Ukraine bring the light of Christ to the faithful affected by the darkness of war, violence, and loss of families and homes and provide other essential funding in the region,” according to an established webpage for the USCCB Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central & Eastern Europe. “Your support of this collection is a tangible way of assisting the Church’s response and outreach to those affected and displaced by the violence,” it continues.

Since support of the collection will help to enact several of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy – namely comfort the sorrowful, instruct the uninformed, pray for the living and the dead, shelter the homeless, and others – the collection connects easily to the diocese’s Forty Act Impact campaign, which calls on Catholics in the Diocese of Metuchen to commit to doing 40 works of mercy in recognition of the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Metuchen. 

“Each day, we are provided with opportunities to serve others, though some are more formal than others…. I urge you to pray and to consider how God’s gracious love and mercy has impacted your own life, and then go out and do the same for others,” wrote Bishop Checchio in his pastoral letter on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Diocese of Metuchen, “Answering the Lord’s Call Through Prayer, Works of Mercy and Vocations.” “How many lives are changed by our individual acts of mercy each day! The world needs the touch of Jesus – He touches the lives of those around us, through each of us, each day.”