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       Pope Announces Special Collection for Ukraine in European Churches

   by Reuters

   Pope Francis on Sunday announced that a special collection would be
   taken up in all of Europe's Roman Catholic churches on April 24 to
   raise funds to help the people of Ukraine.

   Speaking to tens of thousands of people at the end of a Mass in St.
   Peter's Square, he said he wanted the collection to be a "gesture of
   charity that, apart from alleviating material suffering, shows my
   personal closeness as well as that of the entire Church" to the people
   of Ukraine.

   Violence has intensified recently in eastern Ukraine between government
   forces and Russian-backed rebels, international monitors have warned.

   Implementation of a deal agreed in Minsk last year, which would allow
   for the lifting of sanctions on Russia, and a lull in violence late
   last year had raised hopes that the conflict that has killed more than
   9,000 people could be resolved soon.

   The vast majority of Christians living in Ukraine are Orthodox but
   there are about a million Roman Catholics and about four million
   Eastern Rite Catholics who are in unity with Rome.

   The pope did not say how the aid would be distributed. There are about
   120,000 Roman Catholic parishes in Europe, with the largest number -
   about 27,000 - in Italy.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-announces-special-collection-for
   -ukraine-in-european-churches/3266756.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-announces-special-collection-for-ukraine-in-european-churches/3266756.html