The activities of the Roman Catholic Church Archdiocese of Lviv in the area of pastoral, psychological and social support for victims of the war in Ukraine

Abstract

The full-scale war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, has brought pain and grief into the lives of Ukrainians and caused an outburst — indeed, an explosion — of needs that have affected every sphere of human life. The Christian view of the human person is integral, seeing the person as a whole being — spiritual, psychological, and physical — created out of love, for love, and for communion with God and other people. The traumatic experience of war has brought suffering and dissonance into each of these dimensions of human existence — the loss of meaning and values, including spiritual ones; the experience of extreme stress and psychological disorders; the loss of one’s homeland, parental home, health, and even life itself. The Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, faithful to its vocation to serve through love, seeks to respond to and address the needs of those who suffer — on the spiritual, social, psychological, and humanitarian levels. This article presents and describes a specific fragment of such ministry and support — service to the human person in a concrete space and by concrete people.