Roma from Eastern Ukraine found shelter in a Catholic parish in Lviv after denials at state shelters

The Polish news agency PAP made a report from Lviv, where refugees from the war-affected regions of Ukraine live in the local Catholic parish of John Paul II. According to the prior, most of the shelter’s residents are Roma. For them, the parish has become the only opportunity to receive humanitarian assistance and a roof over their heads, as they are refused entry to other refugee reception centers.

“[People at the] social centers knew that they could be sent to us, so we have a lot of Roma here,” says the prior reverend Grzegorz Draus. On his initiative, school classes are organized right in the parish: “We have an agreement with a neighboring school so that we have lessons. The children are registered there and they will be given certificates. The classes are taken by 22 school-age children and 7 preschool children, as well as several Roma adults. Some can’t read and write.”