Church collections in Malta and Gozo this weekend will be used to held the church in the Uktaine.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Bishop Mario Grech in a statement today said  it was a long-standing tradition in the Church that Christians supported fellow Christians that were experiencing hardship.  

During the Angelus a fortnight ago, Pope Francis appealed to all Catholic dioceses in Europe to collect funds for Christians in war-torn Ukraine.

According to the Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, the people, especially the elderly and children orphaned by the war, were in great distress.

"Many have become jobless and cannot support their families. The situation in hospitals is critical."

"Pope Francis tells us that our charitable donations do not only serve to meet material needs but are also heartfelt expressions of solidarity with this suffering Church," they said. 

"This appeal by Pope Francis is a moment of grace during this Jubilee of Mercy when the Church is called to dress the wounds, treat them with the balm of consolation, bind them with mercy and heal them with the solidarity and attention they need.

"In view of this, all collections carried out in churches next Saturday evening and Sunday will be for this purpose. May this earnest appeal by the Pope be 'a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty and let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel'" the bishops said.