Presbyterian Church Moderator, Rev Dr John Kirkpatrick to see war relief efforts

The Hungarian church has worked with the displaced persons humanitarian initiative in Transcarpathia, in western Ukraine, since Russia’s genocidal invasion eight months ago. Dr Kirkpatrick will also see how the Irish Presbyterian church has boosted the ongoing effort in the region.

Due to the Covid pandemic, this is the first overseas tour a Presbyterian moderator has undertaken since 2019. Over five days Dr Kirkpatrick and his wife Joan will be guests of the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH) in the capital Budapest.

Transcarpathia lies 260 kilometres east of Budapest and 800 kilometres west of Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Since the war began, Irish presbyterians responded to the emergency by giving a significant £1.3million to the relief effort. The amount raised from congregations from across Ireland has been distributed equally between the denomination’s relief and development partners Christian Aid and Tearfund, and the Reformed Church of Hungary, through its relief and development wing,

Hungarian Reformed Church Aid has supported refugees who have fled to Hungary and internally displaced people in Ukraine fleeing the conflict in other parts of the country.

Dr Kirkpatrick thanked the Irish Presbyterian congregations who had contributed so wholeheartedly to the special Ukrainian appeal last March.

“The generosity of our congregations across Ireland has led to one of the largest amounts raised for an Irish Presbyterian church appeal in living. memory”, he said. “It is a wonderful demonstration of the faithfulness and kindness of our people, even in these uncertain economic times at home, I am looking forward to seeing how it has blessed people both in Hungary and Transcarpathia.”

After arriving in Budapest on Monday, Dr Kirkpatrick and his wife travel to Ukraine to see the relief effort in the south west of the country. They will meet senior representatives of the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, including leader Bishop Sándor Zán Fábián to discuss the impact of the war and humanitarian response to it so far.

They will also visit congregations to see work of the various education and social welfare bodies. “At our Presbyterian General Assembly in Belfast in June the Ukrainian conflict and the refugee crisis was brought close to home when we heard from Rev Dr Zoltán Literáty. a minister born and raised in Transcarpathia,. He told us 500,000 people had fled to the province from eastern and southern Ukraine," said Dr Kirkpatrick.

"While in Hungary we will also meet Dr Károly Czibere, president of Hungarian Reformed Church Aid, who briefed our General Assembly in Belfast by video. The ongoing work of the Hungarian churches to help and support those caught up in this unnecessary tragedy continues.”