Political Observer (Jan 2024)
The Polish Catholic Church and the Russian invasion of Ukraine | A Igreja Católica da Polónia e a invasão russa da Ucrânia
Abstract
This article presents the attitude of the Catholic Church in Poland towards the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the forms of support it has given to the victims of the war. The Russian invasion, which started in 2014 through a hybrid war that resulted in the occupation of Crimea and initiated military actions in the Donbass, triggered a wave of refugees that in 2022 became an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of Central and Eastern European countries. After the conflict entered a phase of open war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s neighbouring countries received a large number of refugees. Five months later, Poland, which had become the main destination for refugees, received the largest group - more than 5 million people, among whom people of the Orthodox rite predominated. Significant help was given to them by the Catholic Church, both through its parishes, charitable and social organisations, and thanks to religious movements and individual believers. Support for the victims of the war in Ukraine is carried out by Polish Catholics on the territory of the Republic of Poland, as well as through aid sent to war-affected areas on Ukrainian territory. The aid provided to Ukrainian refugees after the 2014 Russian invasion was until the beginning of the 2022 war little known and omitted in migration studies. Also within the political debate and among some commentators, Polish Catholics have been criticised in recent years for their indifference or even hostility towards the victims of war. There have also been voices of criticism regarding the alleged lack of help by the Catholic Church in Poland in the face of a huge wave of immigrants and war fugitives who from February 2022 came from Ukraine to Polish territory.
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