Blessed Klimentiy Sheptytsky Fund
Blessed Klimentiy Sheptytsky Fund
IDEA
Poland supports Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression, stands in solidarity with Ukrainians, and makes every effort to help our neighbour in social and security issues.
Faced with the cruelty of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the inspiration of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the Solidarity Fund PL decided to establish the Blessed Klimentiy Sheptytsky Fund. The Fund’s goal is to help children whose both parents or one parent died as a result of warfare, and women who were taken into Russian captivity.
As the Fund’s patron, we have chosen Blessed Klimentiy Sheptytsky – a Polish count, Ukrainian studite-monk, the Righteous among the Nations, clergyman martyred by the Soviets in 1951 and raised to the altars by Pope John Paul II. He was a man who devoted his entire life to Christian service, and caring for children orphaned in World War I by establishing orphanages and schools for them became one of the priorities in his order’s activities.
We believe that the Blessed Klimentiy Sheptytsky is an exponent of Polish-Ukrainian solidarity and will be the best guide for us to act for the good of the victims of the war in Ukraine.
Patron
BLESSED. KLIMENTIY SHEPTYTSKY
‘Both faith and hope are our guides during our earthly journey.’ These are the words of the Blessed Klimentiy – a man who united the two nations of Poland and Ukraine; a clergyman who displayed great courage during World War II by saving Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians from extermination. The life path of the Blessed Klimentiy’s was neither simple nor easy. He was a Polish aristocrat and politician, a Catholic clergyman of the Greek Catholic rite: a hieromonk (priestmonk) and an archimandrite, the Blessed of the Catholic Church, and the Righteous Among the Nations. Klimentiy Sheptytsky was born as Kazimierz Maria Szeptycki on 17 November 1869 in the village of Prylbychi (near Lviv). He came from the Szeptyckis and Fredros – families of the Ruthenian Voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, and later of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. His father was Count Jan Szeptycki, and his mother, Zofia, was the daughter of comedy playwright, Alexander Fredro.
Fund
Financial support from the Blessed Klimentiy Sheptytsky Fund will be provided to children up to the age of 18 whose both parents or one parent have or has died as a result of hostilities in Ukraine. Financial support and the rest and rehabilitation trip to Poland are available to women who have been freed from Russian captivity. Holding the Ukrainian citizenship is a prerequisite for receiving the support. Detailed information on support can be found on the Ukrainian-language version of the website.
Fund Operator
Solidarity Fund PL is a foundation of the State Treasury of the Republic of Poland. It was established in 1997 on the initiative of the President of the Republic who is the honorary patron of the Foundation. The main task of the Foundation is to implement development cooperation projects. The priority area of the Foundation’s activities covers the Eastern Partnership countries: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Foundation emphasises support for democratic transition, development of civil society and local democracy, the principles of good governance, sharing the Polish experience of economic and political transformation, and supports free media and human rights organisations. In conducting its activities in Ukraine, the Solidarity Fund PL focuses on supporting sectoral reforms in social services, education system, and professional vocational training. Since the outbreak of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Foundation has been providing humanitarian help in cooperation with, among others, the European Commission and the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. It provides food and hygiene packages, provides further necessary equipment for fire departments, obtains and provides ambulances and medical supplies, and provides Ukrainians with generators necessary for civil infrastructure facilities that have been cut off from power as a result of war.
Solidarity Fund PL website and the website of its Ukrainian office.
Project Information
The project is financed by the Prime Minister’s Office within the framework of the implementation of the ‘Program of support for Ukrainian children and women in the face of war in Ukraine – continuation of activities initiated in 2022’ public task. The amount of the subsidy is PLN 8,877,325, the total value of the project is PLN 8,877,325. The project includes providing financial support and organising the rest and rehabilitation trip to Poland.
