Caritas & CAFOD: Ukraine Response

On Saturday 17 January Caritas East Anglia and CAFOD supporters attended an event at St George’s parish hall in Norwich jointly organised by Caritas and CAFOD in East Anglia. 

During it Henry Wilson-Smith, CAFOD’s Emergency Programme Officer Ukraine explored CAFOD’s response to the current conflict in Ukraine, while Jane Crone from CAFOD in East Anglia talked about CAFOD’s long term development work.

Jane opened the meeting with prayer and explained that Caritas and CAFOD are both members of Caritas Internationalis, a global confederation of organisations working in more than 200 countries and territories. Caritas Internationalis is an expression of the Church’s mission to serve the poor, vulnerable and excluded, regardless of race or religion and to work for a just world.

Jane placed the work of Caritas within Catholic social teaching by drawing on the words of Pope Leo XIV to Caritas Internationalis on 21 November 2025. Pope Leo thanked Caritas for ‘steadfast service’ to the church and the world quoting the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, ‘the love we receive from Christ is never a private treasure but always a mission entrusted to our hands. Love sends us forth; love makes us servants; love opens our eyes to the wounds of others’.

Henry Wilson-Smith gave a vivid description of the current situation in Ukraine, based on his visits to the country and his relationships with CAFOD’s partners. He described what life is like in a war zone using photos of shattered infrastructure and people sheltering in underground stations during air raids. He told us that people receive the news of an imminent air raid via an alarm on their phone and played the chilling sound to us on his own phone. Although many people have moved away from areas where conflict is taking place older and more vulnerable people are unable to leave. He described some of the ways in which Caritas organisations support them. For example, by replacing the shattered glass windows of an elderly couple’s home after it had been shattered by an air raid.  

CAFOD’s response to the conflict has taken place in partnership with Caritas Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova; De Paul Ukraine and the Jesuit Refugee Service. The response has developed over the four years of the conflict, and the priority is always the dignity and safety of individuals. We were moved by seeing the photo of a woman who has adopted three orphaned children and given them a safe home. Through the support of Caritas, she has received funding to cloth and feed them.

Henry concluded by explaining the role CAFOD staff are playing during this emergency. This work ranges from getting money to partner organisations safely and ensuring that projects are viable to staff welfare and evaluating how work is going.

Jane concluded the meeting by illustrating how CAFOD supports long term development overseas. She did this through using three stories CAFOD is featuring during the 2026 Lent Fast Day appeal. These explore how CAFOD supported projects enable people in Zimbabwe, South Sudan and Bangladesh grow food in challenging climates.

To find out more about CAFOD’s response in Ukraine see https://cafod.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/ukraine

To find out about CAFOD’s Lent appeal https://cafod.org.uk/fundraise/family-fast-day

Any enquiries contact Jane Crone from CAFOD in East Anglia jcrone@cafod.org.uk

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