The closing days of February 2022 saw the beginning of devastating attacks on Ukraine. Upon Russian invasion our Ukrainian brothers and sisters witnessed their homes destroyed, their family members and friends killed and their lives completely and inconceivably uprooted. Hearts were broken in Ukraine and around the world.
Across the globe, parishioners at Church of the Holy Family in Novi, Michigan, felt especially called to support the besieged in Ukraine. The faith community in the Archdiocese of Detroit had tremendous ethnic diversity from Eastern European nations. Some families had recently immigrated. Several parishioners had family members still living in Ukraine at the time of the invasion.
Six days after the invasion began, the Catholic Church observed Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season and a time of prayer, reflection, fasting and almsgiving. Church of the Holy Family’s pastor, Father Bob LaCroix, used Ash Wednesday services to urge his parishioners to help Ukraine. “It’s not if, but when,” Father LaCroix recalled telling the congregation. “Let’s make the focus for our almsgiving this whole Lent to be to Ukraine.”
And in their efforts to support Ukraine, Father LaCroix and the parish found a new partner in Catholic Extension Society.
The parish learned about Catholic Extension Society’s support of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and its humanitarian efforts to help those in need through an email blast from eCatholic, a Catholic Extension Society supporter since 2016. eCatholic is a software company that develops websites and applications to facilitate online donations and payments to Catholic organizations.
Although Father LaCroix had never heard of Catholic Extension Society before receiving eCatholic’s message, he knew very quickly that he and his parish found a partner they could trust.
“We’ve got some generous people here, but they don’t want to just launch the money out into the deep. They want to know that it’s on the ground,” Father LaCroix explained. He saw how Catholic Extension Society was utilizing funds raised to help those in need in Ukraine and said,
Catholic Extension Society documented well that it’s helping the people in Ukraine, so we thought we had people we could trust.”
Jim Fisher, the parish’s director of communications added, “To learn about all the work Catholic Extension Society was already doing in Ukraine made it so natural for our money to go to Catholic Extension Society to help people get out of harm’s way.”
Catholic Extension Society has supported the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States since 1979, working with its four “eparchies” (that is, dioceses), which operate approximately 200 Ukrainian Catholic parishes across the country. The Ukrainian eparchies Catholic Extension Society supports in the United States are deeply connected to the Catholic Church in Ukraine, regularly sponsoring projects, which currently includes the ongoing humanitarian efforts for the besieged nation.
A primary mission beyond parish borders
Church of the Holy Family, a community of roughly 1,200 people, amassed a mighty effort to support the Catholic Church’s work in Ukraine. After a surge of initial donations, parishioners at Church of the Holy Family felt so called to support those in need in Ukraine that they asked eCatholic, who had said it would match donations up to $10,000 toward Catholic Extension Society’s emergency funding, if it would be willing to raise its matching contribution to $50,000. When they got word that eCatholic would increase it, Father LaCroix continued to challenge his parishioners to support their brothers and sisters suffering in Ukraine.
“Three or four weeks into Lent, I get up on the altar and say, ‘I really think we can raise $100,000’” Father LaCroix recalled. “And somebody turned to the person next to them, and they said, ‘I think he’s crazy.’”
The “crazy” idea turned into reality and an outpouring of God’s love from the people of Novi. In just over six weeks, Church of the Holy Family collected $78,000. This combined with the $50,000 matching contribution from eCatholic meant that the faith community had delivered $128,000 to support the Ukrainian Catholic Church and bring humanitarian aid to those in dire need.
On his parish’s inspiring support, Father LaCroix explained,
The ability for people to respond generously is because they’ve encountered Jesus and their lives are being transformed. They know the joy of being generous and have experienced God’s blessing.”
The generosity of those in Novi has touched the lives of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Their donations helped the Sisters of Saint Basil the Great evacuate hundreds of families, orphans and disabled children to the Ukrainian border, and shelter countless other displaced families inside Ukraine. By being a parish partner with Catholic Extension Society and contributing to funding for the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Church of the Holy Family showed just how much impact a single parish can have on an entire population of people in need.
Finally, it showed how a parish is not a club that exists for its members. It serves a larger mission that goes beyond the walls of its physical space.
“Catholics who do not think their primary mission is beyond their own parish borders aren’t going to go anywhere,” Father LaCroix said. “We have a mission that is greater than what we do in church. We need to go out. There’s a special place in the heart of God for helping those truly in need.”
Catholic Extension Society’s Parish Partnership program
With a compelling list of urgent projects to support our Church, Catholic Extension Society has created a turnkey fundraising program that is easily adapted for any parish and provides materials and guidance. For more information on how to get involved please contact Natalie Donatello at ndonatello@catholicextension.org
