It is a movement in full development and of immense scope, which embraces all the continents.
The Salesian Mission Office in Austria has donated a set of three satellite telephones to Fr Mykhaylo Chaban, Superior of the Greek Catholic Vice Province of Ukraine, which can help him coordinate emergency aid in Ukraine.
In the Czech Republic, where about 100,000 refugees have already arrived in less than two weeks, the Salesians are active across the board: they have already taken in 200 refugees, to whom they offer all the necessary meals and services; they collect and distribute economic aid; they make cars available for transporting materials and people; they encourage the inclusion of children and young people in the activities of youth centers and educational paths, as well as help adults in their search for work. "And in addition to all this we try to inform objectively about everything that is happening, we offer psychological and spiritual support, and we pray and make people pray," testifies Fr Martin Hobza, Provincial of the Czech Province (CEP).
The Provinces of Great Britain (GBR) and Southern Italy (IME) have publicly spoken out in support of the Ukrainian people who are victims of the war and IME is also collecting funds and resources, along with the willingness to receive refugees, in Salesian homes and lay people close to the Salesians.
From Argentina, the National Mission Office is organizing a collection of funds to collaborate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, with special attention to the needs of the Salesian Family and the Salesian Congregation present in the country.
The Province of Brazil-Campo Grande has allocated a solidarity cheque to the Office of the General Economer so that it may subsequently be transferred to the Salesians in Ukraine. Other presences of the same Province are campaigning in schools, universities and parishes for this purpose.
While the Province of Brazil-Porto Alegre (BPA) has planned: a provincial day of prayer for peace, along with a campaign to collect funds and goods supported by awareness material produced by the provincial team for Social Communication, and a concrete Lenten gesture in favor of Salesian works in Ukraine by Salesian communities.
In addition, the Head of the Salesian Coordination of Emergency Response to the War in Ukraine, Fr George Menamparampil, reached Poland today, along with the General Economer of the Congregation, Bro. Jean Paul Muller (and on a separate trip, two members of the Salesian NGO "VIS - Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo, International Volunteering for Development" - did the same, to better understand the needs and coordinate humanitarian support activities); and for its part, the Don Bosco Youth Net (DBYN), the coordinating network of Salesian youth organizations in Europe, has set up a virtual bulletin board that links the requests for help received from the various Salesian organizations directly involved in the emergency, so as to facilitate a more effective response from the bodies of the DBYN network.
Don Bosco International, the body that represents the Salesians at the institutions of the European Union (EU), is currently drafting several joint statements with other civil society organizations in Brussels, in order to directly address the political level of the EU, and next Monday will participate in an open consultation of the European Commission on the situation in Ukraine where it will bring the Salesian voice - that is, of the people in need helped by the Salesians - on the matter.
Finally, Msgr. George Palliparampil, a Salesian, Bishop of the Diocese of Miao, State of Arunachal Pradesh, India, asked the children of his diocese "to say one million Our Fathers for Ukraine, because this prayer includes what we need most: 'give us today our daily bread' and 'forgive us as we forgive'".
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/14867-rmg-a-commitment-without-borders-in-favor-of-the-ukrainian-population#sigProId913622df54