Church in Hungary supporting refugees from Ukraine
By Lisa Zengarini
The Catholic Church in Hungary, alongside Churches in Poland, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania, continues to be on the frontline of relief efforts for refugees fleeing the Russian invasion in neighbouring Ukraine.
Caritas Hungary
The president of Caritas Hungary, Bishop Antal Spányi, on Wednesday visited volunteers working for the Catholic Church's aid organization at Budapest-Keleti Railway Station, where many of the refugees arrive.
There he met Gábor Csorba, director of the St. Elisabeth Caritas Centre of the Esztergom-Budapest Archdiocese, and exchanged information and news while the Caritas volunteers shared their experiences and provided details the assistance provided so far.
Dioceses involved in relief efforts
Many other Hungarian dioceses and Catholic institutions are involved in the relief operations.
On 11 March, volunteers from the Archdiocese of Veszprém and a local Catholic home for the Elderly in Hévíz helped send a significant amount of durable food, toiletries and diapers to the border crossing in Barabás, which was visited last week by the Papal envoy, Cardinal Michael Czerny.
Caritas is also working with the Diocese of Győr, bordering Slovakia. Thanks to the generosity of donors and local volunteers, last week it provided 5 tons of material donations for the refugees, adding to the first batch of 8 tons.
Roma families from Ukraine
Afternoon schools and Roma pastoral communities in the Diocese of Nyíregyháza, in Eastern Hungary, are also offering shelter to refugees from Ukraine, including Roma families.
In addition to providing for the basic needs of families, they also entertain refugee children to give them a sense of normality and help them integrate with other children. Some Roma families from Ukraine have also found shelter in Máriapócs.
Over 3 million refugees
So far more than three million people have fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. Most refugees have crossed into Poland (1.8 million as of 15 March).
On March 14, 263,888 Ukrainians had entered Hungary.
Cardinal Czerny's visit to Hungary
From 7 to 10 March, Cardinal Michael Czerny, the interim Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, stayed in Hungary and briefly visited Ukraine, to convey Pope Francis’ closeness to those fleeing the war.
He visited Budapest, where he met Ukrainian refugees and many volunteers and then traveled to the Hungarian-Ukrainian border town of Barabás from where he was driven across the border to Beregove, in Ukraine, to meet with the local Eastern and Latin-rite Catholic bishops.
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