Pope donates 6 million euro to Ukraine relief efforts for Christmas

“In the name of the Holy Father, at Christmas the first instalment of the aid for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine will be paid,” a December 23 communiqué from the Pontifical Council Cor Unum reads. The sum of nearly 6 million euro is only part of the 12 million that’s been collected since April, and is destined for more than 2 million people “without distinction of religion, faith or ethnic background.” It will go to projects that assist people currently living in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, Kharkiv and Dnipro, which have been hit hardest by the conflict. The funds were raised in large part as the result of Pope Francis’ decision to take up an April 24 collection in all the Catholic parishes of Europe to promote humanitarian support for all those suffering or displaced due to the fighting in eastern Ukraine. A special committee set up by Vatican will use the funds to finance 20 “large-scale” projects with individual contributions of up to 250,000 euros, as well as 39 initiatives “of solidarity” for amounts of up to 20,000 euros.