Papal Almoner Cardinal Krajewski calls for urgent aid to Ukraine as winter cold, bombings, and power blackouts deepen the humanitarian crisis.
Newsroom (21/01/2026 Gaudium Press )The gentle glow of a candle lights a mother’s face as she cradles her child, wrapped in layers of worn blankets. What could be a scene of tenderness instead reveals the daily tragedy of a people enduring their fourth year of war. In the freezing dark of Kyiv in Ukraine, where temperatures fall below zero and electricity is scarce, the struggle to survive takes on its most elemental form: staying warm, finding food, and holding onto hope.
It is from this bleak landscape that Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, issues his urgent appeal to the world: “We cannot remain indifferent to pain. We must act.” Speaking for the Pope’s Dicastery for the Service of Charity, Krajewski calls on all of us to respond to the human suffering gripping Ukraine as Russian bombardments intensify, plunging entire neighborhoods of the capital into cold and darkness.
A Call to Charity in Action
The Basilica of Santa Sofia in Rome has become the logistical heart of the Vatican’s effort. Trucks regularly leave its courtyard loaded with blankets, generators, and survival essentials bound for Kyiv. The Cardinal, who has traveled to Ukraine at least ten times since the war began, insists that Christian charity must be tangible: “Act as Christians,” he says, “gather what is needed.”
The list is stark in its practicality—chemical hand and body warmers, thermal clothing, gas burners, thermoses, dry showers, energy bars, chocolate, and nuts. Each item, as the basilica notes, “means warmth, food, and a chance of survival.”
The Struggle of Survival
Father Vyacheslav Hrynevych, executive director of Caritas-Spes Ukraine, echoes the plea. His voice, weary but resolute, conveys the urgency: this is not a distant war. “We must not turn away,” he says, urging the world to see the human faces behind the statistics. Enormous difficulties beset their efforts. Temperatures at night dip to minus 15 degrees, while the latest airstrikes left over 5,600 buildings without heat—most of them only recently restored.
Public transport falters as electricity cuts halt trams and the metro. For many, even reaching work has become an ordeal through ice and debris. Father Hrynevych calls it “a fight for survival,” but one that also reveals the best of Ukraine: resilience and solidarity. “Even under bombardment, people find ways to share, to support one another,” he says.
“Points of Resilience”
Amid the bleakness, hope flickers in unexpected places. Caritas-Spes has set up what it calls a “Point of Resilience” in Kyiv—a makeshift refuge powered by a massive generator where people can warm themselves, charge their phones, and receive hot meals. About two hundred people come at a time. What began as help for the most vulnerable has grown into a critical lifeline for thousands.
Similar efforts are under way in Kharkiv, where a social laundry and hot meal center receive more than a hundred visitors daily. With nearly half of Kyiv’s residential buildings without heating and attacks continuing, Caritas is also planning heated tents and parish-run shelters under the guidance of Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi.
The Coldest Winter Yet
Father Taras Zheplinsky of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church describes a city both exhausted and steadfast. In a video message illuminated by a candle and a fading Christmas light, he explains that this winter—“the coldest in recent years”—has taken away electricity, heat, and even water from vast sectors of Kyiv. Nearly 6,000 buildings remain without heating; others have lost access to clean water. Streets are silent, shops shuttered, and the Cathedral of the Resurrection glows dimly with the light of passing cars.
This is, he says, more than a physical crisis—it is a spiritual trial. Yet even here, amid war and blackout, there is light. He recounts the birth of a baby boy—the third child of a local priest’s family. It is, he says, “a joy and a responsibility,” a symbol of life continuing despite the darkness.
The Light That Does Not Fade
Father Taras’ message closes not in despair but in faith. “We are sure we will overcome this winter, this darkness,” he says. In his voice, the conviction of a people long tested but unbroken. He recalls the prophet Isaiah’s words: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” That light, he insists, shines not only in faith but also in human solidarity—from the Vatican’s almoner to every citizen who shares warmth, food, or prayer.
Cardinal Krajewski’s appeal, therefore, is not merely a request for material help but a call to conscience. In the heart of this winter of war, to give is to resist indifference—the truest act of charity.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
Related Images:
