Saskatchewan-born Ukrainian Catholic bishop reacts to war

Kenneth Nowakowski’s heart is broken by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nowakowski, whose hometown is North Battleford, is the bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Holy Family of London.

He joined Gormley on Tuesday to share his thoughts and feelings on the war.

Nowakowski spent a decade in Ukraine, and has many close friends there.

“I spent a lot of time in places like Luhansk, in Mariupol, in Odesa, and in Kharkiv … so I’m very familiar with the images that we’re seeing that are being bombed,” he said.

It’s not easy for him. It was an absolute shock to the system when he first saw the images of his former home under attack.

“About four weeks ago, when the invasion started, I woke up, said my prayers and turned on my smart phone, and my heart broke … (It was) certainly a day that was probably predictable, but we of course all hoped that it wouldn’t happen,” he recalled.

One area Nowakowski is very experienced in is charity. A big part of his work while living in Ukraine was as a charity organizer, and he points out there’s a lot of need for it now.

“(I’m) really concerned for the over 3 million people who have had to flee Ukraine and are right now in borderlands or are on their way to other countries of safe haven … The concept of (that many) people within four weeks having to flee their country is unprecedented in the history of humankind,” Nowakowski said.

He went on to clarify that there have been massive displacements before, but not in such a quick time frame.

He said the church has been very involved in working with different organizations to help refugees who are landing in England.

But what can people here in Saskatchewan do to help out?

“This might sound like a simplistic answer, but I think that if we want to have peace in Ukraine, peace throughout the world, we have to start at our homes. We have to make peace in our streets, peace in our communities, and become a people of peace. Then we can really hope for peace in Ukraine,” Nowakowski said.

For those who don’t have ties to Ukraine, why does the conflict matter? The answer to that is very clear for him.

“Whatever is happening today in Ukraine is affecting the world,” Nowakowski said. “It’s not a Ukrainian situation.

“Ukrainians, under the leadership of President Volodymyr Zelensky, are defending what we have come to understand as a way of life. In Saskatchewan, in the United Kingdom, that’s all under threat.”