CV NEWS FEED // The Knights of Columbus in Ukraine have helped open three chapels in southern Ukraine hospitals, with one more chapel expected to open at the end of April.
The Knights of Columbus reported that the Ukrainian Knights worked with the Vatican-founded International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) to provide four hospitals with chapels and chaplains.
The chapels were a request of Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy, exarch of the Odesa Exarchate and state chaplain for Ukrainian Greek Catholic Knights.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest Eastern Catholic Church and has been in full communion with the Pope since 1596, according to the Church’s website.
Plans for the hospital chapels began in fall 2023. According to the Knights, the ICMC provided funds for turning the hospital rooms into chapels, while the Knights bought furnishings and liturgical items.
The first chapel was consecrated in the Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Hospital in Liubashivka on April 3 by Bishop Bubniy.
“For the church of Christ, a hospital has always been a place where not only the body but also the soul is helped and treated,” Bishop Bubniy said during the ceremony, according to the Knights. “For us, as a church, it has always been a priority to be in a hospital, to be near the poor, the hurt, the wounded, the weak and the sick.”
The Knights reported that the chapels will be used by patients and 10 medical chaplains.
“In addition to being a place for private prayer, the chapels are a space for chaplains to provide direction and counseling to patients, making the hospitals places of spiritual and mental, as well as physical, healing,” the Knights reported, adding that confessions were available for patients as soon as the chapels opened.
“When the body and soul work harmoniously, then a person can truly do great things,” Bishop Bubniy said during another chapel consecration, according to the Knights. “Let this chapel serve that purpose. Let it become a second wing that helps a wounded bird to fly.”
