The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Service of Charity is holding a thermal shirt drive to help people in Ukraine, who are facing an energy emergency amid the war.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pope’s almoner, says the charity office is “already stocking up” on thermal shirts for men, women and children.
He is encouraging others to join the thermal shirt initiative by bringing or shipping them to the Dicastery by the beginning of January. Then the shirts will be trucked to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city.
“The Ukrainian people are experiencing an emergency related not only to the war but also to the lack of electricity and gas, and the very cold winter weather,” Krajewski said.
“We can help them this Christmas,” he added, “with the gift of thermal shirts, suitable for maintaining body temperature, for men, women, or children.”
Thermal shirts help retain heat and maintain body temperature in cold weather. They are usually worn as a base layer under other clothing.
Systematic bombing by Russia has damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and the country’s government has warned that the networks will not withstand winter’s increased demands.
People in Ukraine are facing freezing weather without electricity, heat, or water, as January, the country’s coldest month of the year, approaches.
Temperatures in Kyiv are already below freezing, with a mixture of rain and snow in the near forecast.
Cardinal Krajewski has traveled to Ukraine by truck several times since Russia’s invasion in February, bringing food and supplies to be distributed to those in need.
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