In a special collection taken at Sunday Masses on 20 March, the people of the Chalan Kanoa Diocese offered $12,289 as a response to the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine. All churches participated after Bishop Ryan Jimenez indicated that the local church could, indeed should, be helpful. He said,” … Yes, there are always problems in the CNMI, usually related to poverty or neglect or abuse — but so much of the world has united to help the Ukrainian people, and our Catholic Church is already mobilizing in Ukraine. We have to help.”
When the collection was announced on 6 March already there were over 700,000 refugees from Ukraine who had fled. Today the number is more than 2 million. There has been immense devastation in a military action described as the worst military violence since the Second World War. Any truce or lasting peace has yet to emerge, and the world is now witnessing to mass executions of civilians, immense physical devastation, and forcible removals of peoples. The suffering of humanity is beyond calculation.
“This is the best offering of this kind we have ever had,” said Bishop Ryan,” … it is clear that our people are both compassionate and committed to justice. The closest thing we had to this was our Karidat offering last year.”
Mt. Carmel School also made a special collection for Ukraine. Some $1,500 came in from the students and staff. Bishop Ryan has expressed his gratitude for the school’s effort to Mrs. Frances Taimanao, the school’s acting President.
The Diocese will be sending the offerings from the churches and the school to a partner in Chicago, Catholic Extension, which has links to the world-wide effort for Ukraine by the Catholic Church.
Si Yu’us ma’ase.
