“Pray for Ukraine.”
That is the message from Novocastrian John Woods who says regardless of our faith we have a role as humans to show we care.
Last week, he chanced upon a visit to Newcastle’s Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Adamstown.
An Australian Catholic himself, whose regular parish is in Mayfield, Mr Woods says he had no knowledge of the Gosford Street fellowship and was curious to learn how the local Ukrainian community were fairing, given what is happening in their homeland.
This week Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered troops into East Ukraine.
Many allied countries, including Australia, advised their citizens to leave the country as the fear of an imminent Russian invasion escalated.
While tensions between Russia and the Ukraine began many years ago, they have been mounting since early 2014 after Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.
With friends and family scattered throughout Eastern Europe, Mr Woods says the volatile nature of the current situation had led him to seek out a place to pray and offer support to Ukranians living in his city.
“I’m guessing 99.9% of people in Newcastle didn’t even know there was a Ukrainian church here,” he said.
“I was one of them, and yet it’s been here for more than 70 years.”
The building’s first foundation stone was laid in 1968 but it had been a beacon for the Hunter’s Ukrainian community years earlier.
In fact when the region’s first Eastern European families arrived in the 1950s, families would travel by bus from Greta’s migrant camp to attend services in what is now the community hall (next door).
Now mass is often offered in both English and Ukraine.
“I was very overwhelmed by the whole experience,” Mr Woods told the Newcastle Weekly.
“It was not only a beautiful building but the people there were highly intelligent and very welcoming.”
“I really feel for these people,” Mr Woods said.
“It’s about humanity and standing by your fellow community members. These people haven’t asked for this awful situation to be happening in their homeland.
“May I call on people to attend mass at Ukrainian Catholic Church Adamstown and pray for this country that’s under such pressure.”
The Ukrainian Catholic Church in Adamstown is under the leadership of Father Paul Berezniuk.
It holds services on Saturdays at 6pm and Sundays at 9:30am.
For more stories like this:
- Australian diplomats evacuate from Ukraine
- Australia won’t send troops to Ukraine
- Australia to impose sanctions on Russia
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