Catholic churches around the country will take up a collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, in an annual relief effort sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
The collection is in its 35th year and helps churches in nearly 30 countries, according to a press release from the USCCB. Funds from the collection help with continued recovery from communist rule and with relief efforts related to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Bishop Gerald Vincke of the Diocese of Salina and chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe witnessed firsthand the impact the annual collection has in Ukraine when he visited the country last March.
“I visited a shelter for families whose homes were destroyed and an orphanage for children whose parents were killed. Veterans I met with expressed their gratitude for therapy they have been able to receive for their post-traumatic stress,” he said, according to the USCCB. “An elderly man who had survived a Siberian gulag told me, ‘What gives me hope is that, in the end, evil does not win.’ He is right – but that requires all of us to follow Christ’s call to build the kingdom of God.”
In 2024, the collection provided more than $9.5 million across 547 grants, according to the USCCB. These grants supported everything from the expansion of evangelization efforts in Kazakhstan and crisis pregnancy outreach in Slovakia to post-abortion healing ministry in Bulgaria and the training of lay leaders in Ukraine.
“For 35 years, your contributions to the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe have made a profound difference,” Bishop Vincke said, according to the USCCB. “You have rebuilt cathedrals, renewed hope, healed the suffering and brought joy where there had been despair. As these churches continue to heal from old wounds and suffer new ones, it is my hope that you give generously and become part of our ongoing and loving response.”
While the collection is traditionally taken on Ash Wednesday, some participating dioceses hold the collection on different dates. Anyone who wishes to contribute can also do so here.
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