Cross-border cooperation: centre in restored monastery in Poland welcomes refugees and orphans from Ukraine

The EU-funded Polish-Ukrainian cross-border cooperation project ‘TwinMonasteries’ has completed renovation works on a post-reformation monastery in Węgrów, Poland.

A grant of more than €2.3 million euros from the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Cross-Border Cooperation Programme enabled a series of renovation and modernisation works on Baroque monuments in Polish Węgrów and Ukrainian Rawa Ruska. The idea was to use the potential of the heritage of the Catholic monastic order ‘Reformati’ to develop tourism and socio-cultural life in both countries. 

Cooperation  under the project between the Roman Catholic Parishes of St. Peter of Alcantara and St. Anthony of Padua in Węgrów and the Archdiocese of Lviv has also resulted in the establishment of the Centre for the Dialogue of Cultures in Węgrów and the Centre for the Dialogue of Cultures and Family Orphanage in Rawa Ruska.

“We hope that, in line with the values of the Programme, both centres will serve local communities and help further develop cooperation between Poland and Ukraine in the fields of education, culture, tourism, as well as contribute to preserving historical memory for future generations,” said Andrzej Słodki from PBU Programme. 

The Parish in Węgrów has been organising humanitarian aid for Poles living in the Archdiocese of Lviv since 2016, and since 2022 it has become a humanitarian aid point for refugees from war zones and a residence for orphans from Eastern Ukraine. 

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