Enthusiasitc faithful gather following a program given by Thomas McKenna about St. Gianna at St. Alexander Church in KievSt. Gianna Physician's Guild president, Thomas McKenna, was invited by several bishops and Catholic organizations in the Ukraine to speak to doctors, medical and nursing students as well as hospital administrators about the St. Gianna Physicians's Guild and the importance of sound ethics and morals in medicine. The trip was sponsored by the organization Chalice of Mercy through the efforts of Valentyna Pavsyukova.

Valentyna accompanied us and served as the interpreter throughout the entire trip. We were also accompanied by another member, Kirby Bollard, who gave dedicated assistance througout the entire tour.

In the Ukraine almost all of the hospitals, medical clinics and universities are run by the government. For that reason, we were not sure what the reaction would be to a presentation based on religious values. The organizers were very pleased and grateful for the favorable interest and success of the programs.

Ukraine is the second largest country in Eastern Europe with nearly 50,000,000 people. Ukraine was once a prosperous country, referred to as the "bread basket" of Eastern Europe, before the era of Communism rule which began in 1923. For nearly seventy years, until 1991, most of the country was dominated by the Soviet Union and suffered greatly. The Communist regime persecuted religion and promoted a society without faith or morals. The result is that even today after almost 20 years of independence, there is a great lack of principles and practices such as abortion are widespread.

Thomas McKenna's Eight Day Journal

May 25: After traveling for 24 hours from San Diego I arrived in the capital city of Kiev. The same evening I gave a presentation on St. Gianna and the work of the Guild at St. Nicholas Church where some 60 people attended. During the Soviet era this church was taken over by communists and turned into a concert hall.  The main church is still used as a concert hall. Only recently was the diocese allowed to celebrate Mass in the crypt.   It was amazing to see the faith still alive and rebounding from persecution. Two priests present at the event were Fr. Father Andry, who would accompany me as my driver on the entire visit, and Father Pavlo Viskovskyy, who serves as the director of communications for the diocese of Kiev. Father Pavlo organized our visit and meetings in Kiev.  He belongs to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

May 26: We went to our first meeting at a hospital in Ukrainka, a small city near Kiev.  About 30 doctors gathered that morning to hear the presentation.  This was probably the most difficult presentation because I did not know what their interest or reaction would be. I had decided to discuss the vocation of a doctor and how that vocation affected not only their patients, but that their example and influence also had an impact on society and the culture. I explained why the Guild was founded in the United States and the issues doctors are facing. A point I brought up in all the meetings was the fact that the Hippocratic Oath, which served as a standard for morals and ethics for physicians of all faiths for more than two thousand years, has in recent times been revised, and in some cases eliminated altogether, in order to accommodate modern culture and a decline in morality.

They were impressed to learn that a proposed law being debated in Nebraska was focused on making it illegal to perform an abortion on a child in the womb over 10 weeks old because medical science has proven that an unborn baby can feel pain at that point in development. They were interested to hear that key testimony in the debate came from physicians. When I began asking them about situations in their country they were very eager to explain hardships and challenges they faced. Many of them were interested in the religious ideas and wanted to continue the discussion. One doctor brought up the fact that it is very difficult for a physician to make a living in their country and alluded to the fact that if one refused certain practices it could greatly affect their livelihood. I explained that providing for oneself and one's family is important, but that even in face of hardship correct morals and ethical norms cannot be put aside. Explaining how some physicians in the United States, in spite of the fact that it is much better off, suffer persecution and great hardships for their values and beliefs created a lot of discussion. This was a key point to address and I brought it up in all of the subsequent presentations. Following the presentation, books titled "50 Questions about Abortion" which had been printed especially for this tour were distributed. We also passed out models of a 12 week old child in gestation which had been brought from the United States.

Thomas McKenna with students and faculty at the Medical University in KievAfter the presentation, we continued our mission at the Medical University in Kiev.  It was great to see about 25 young future doctors in the audience.  The director of the university greeted us warmly and thanked us for coming.  She told us that she had spoken about the importance of such work to the students. The students were really open to discussion and had many questions.

From there we went to the Catholic Media Center established by Father Pavlo Viskovskyy.  This young but very dedicated priest has established important programs to help with the evangelization of Ukraine.  We were invited for lunch and had a lengthy discussion about ideas to help with the evangelization. I was interviewed about the Guild and its activities in the United States for their publications and web site.

That evening we went to the Church of St. Alexander in Kiev for a program.  The pastor, Father Sergey, is very involved in the Pro-life movement and wanted to host a Mass and lecture to teach his parishioners about St. Gianna. Many parishioners from this church go to the abortion clinics every Friday and pray the Rosary for the conversion of mothers and fathers and for tBishop Leon Dubravky presiding at the Enshrinement Ceremony in Vinniza at the Gianna Health Clinic for Women run by the Canosian Sisters he lives of the unborn children.  I had brought with me two relics of St. Gianna: a pair of gloves and the stethoscope she used as a doctor. These relics were placed at the front of the church before Mass.  Following Mass I gave a presentation on St. Gianna and how she can serve as a patron for them in their ministry.  Several of the physicians present approached me afterward expressing their desire to form a local Guild and Enshrinement Program.

May 27: Following the 6:15 Mass at the parish where we were staying, I was asked to speak about St. Gianna. It was very inspiring to be with these fellow Catholics who are trying to live their faith in a country that is very void of religion due to Communism. After the presentation, the pastor blessed a framed picture and relic of St. Gianna I had brought it from the United States and enshrined it in the church.

After breakfast we headed to the little city of Irpin where we visited a women's clinic where women receive care and counseling and make decisions about whether to keep their babies or abort them.  The clinic is the only one in the entire region that holds a Pro-Life position and encourages women to take their babies to term.  As I spoke to the doctors you could see in their eyes that they were interested and that the topic was important to them.  There also were pregnant women who stayed to listen to the presentation.  When the doctors saw the wooden stethoscope St. Gianna used in her practice of medicine, one doctor said they still use the same kind to hear the heart of the baby in its mother's womb.

Gitomirsky Medical UniversityFrom there we went to Gitomirsky Medical University where I addressed some 120 nursing students and physicians.  All of them looked very nice wearing white medical robes and hats.  They were a very engaging group and asked a lot of questions. After the talk many of them came to greet me and thank me for coming. Once again all of them took a book and a model of the unborn child that we offered.

We then went to meet with Bishop Jan Purwinski, bishop of the Kiev-Gitomirskaya diocese.  The meeting lasted for more than an hour. The bishop shared with us his life story and how the Church had endured the Communist regime. We discussed Pro-life issues and ideas for future plans that the Guild might be able to help with.  He was very thankful and asked if we can continue to help them and keep in contact. He offered support and prayers for our work. It was already evening when we headed to the city of Vinniza four hours away. Here we would stay at the monastery and medical clinic of the Canosian Sisters.

May 28: The Sisters established and built a center for women and dedicated it to St. Gianna. The Sisters do so much to help families and women in critical situations.  The Sisters told us they recently opened the "Window of Life".  This is where women who do not want their babies can leave the children there with no questions asked. The Sisters will care for them and try to find families to adopt them.

This morning the bishop of the diocese, Bishop Leon Dubravky, came to the center to preside over an Enshrinement ceremony. We had brought a framed picture and relic for them which will remain in the lobby of the facility. Following the ceremony, Bishop Dubravky blessed all in attendance and spoke enthusiastically about the importance of the mission of the St. Gianna Physician Guild and how he was very pleased to have the program in his diocese.

The sister had also organized a symposium for about 60 doctors from the city.  They had many questions and were very interested to hear about issues facing doctors in the United States. A long question and answer period followed.  It was clear that many doctors in Ukraine are interested in organizing better outreaches to support sound ethical and moral values in medicine something that was throughout the Communist regime.

From there we set out on an eight hour trip to the city of Zaporozhe.  This city had been built up under Communism to become one of the largest industrial cities in Europe at the time.  Lenin and Stalin had dreamed of making it a model of Communism. For this reason every place of worship had been destroyed and for decades not one church existed. Today the city has nearly one million inhabitants and only two Catholic churches. We were welcomed by Monsignor Jan Sobilo at the recently formed parish of The Merciful Father God. Msgr. Sobilo had come to this city 19 years ago as a mA Ukrainian couple baptized their baby and were very pleased to learn about St. Giannaissionary to begin the work of establishing the parish. When he arrived there was no church in the city. Through his efforts they now have a church and he has baptized more than 500 souls in spite of tremendous difficulties.

May 29: On Saturday there were no official presentations planned.  After morning Mass and breakfast, Father Jan took us on a tour of Zaporozhe and explained much about the history of the city.  We saw the Dnieper River which flows into the Black Sea and provides a water way for ships. We visited a birthing center and met with many people from the parish.

May 30: It was Sunday and I was asked to give two presentations at Merciful God the Father parish. The priests were very pleased to have their parishioners learn about the life of St. Gianna and how she can serve a model and intercessor for them. They told me that especially the mothers and women had commented how inspiring it was to learn about her life. A crew from a local television station came and filmed the program and interviewed me for a documentary about the St. Gianna and the Guild that was televised later in the month

May 31: It was Father Jan's birthday.  Father was born the same year St. Gianna died, so it was special to him that we were there with him on his birthday.

This day we visited a hospital in Kamenka-Dneprovskaya. Chalice of Mercy had recently shipped a container of much needed medical supplies to them from the US. I was asked to speak to the doctors who work there. About 25 doctors attended. To my surprise many of the doctors were very touched by the story and life of St. Gianna and had a lot of questions to ask about her life. At the end of the talk many of the doctors wanted to share their experiences in their own practices. After the presentation many of the doctors came and venerated the relics of St. Gianna and wanted prayer cards. They also took with them copies of the book with 50 questions and answers about abortion.  We then toured the hospital and had lunch with the director.Young and old alike came forth the venerate the relics of St. Gianna

June 1: We made the 8 hour trip back to Kiev where we were invited for diner with Mrs. Genya Samborska, president of the Pro-life mission in Ukraine, and other pro-life members and clergy. Over lunch we discussed the challenges they face in promoting the pro-life cause in their country. They were very encouraged to have received support from St. Gianna Physician's Guild and said that the tour had opened many new opportunities for them to advance the cause for Life.

After dinner I asked if we could all go to pray a rosary at the main abortion clinic as I wanted to show support and solidarity with them in this important mission. So we all went down town to an abortion clinic in down town Kiev. Led by Father Sergey and me carrying the relics of St. Gianna in procession, we prayed all the mysteries of the rosary and sang hymns to Our Lady for more than an hour as we circled the hospital. When we had finished our prayers, someone remembered that it was, coincidentally, the International Day for the Protection of Children. It was an inspiring and meaningful conclusion to our mission that we will never forget.

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