Vatican honours sister running perinatal hospice in Ukraine

The Vatican’s Academy for Life has awarded a Ukrainian religious sister the 2025 “Guardian of Life” award for her work leading a perinatal hospice for parents who receive a life-ending or life-limiting diagnosis for their preborn children.

This helps pregnant women carry their sick or dying child in the womb with dignity, rather than end their baby’s life prematurely through abortion.

Sister Giustina Olha Holubets, SSMI, is a bioethicist, biologist, psychologist, and president of the nonprofit organization “Perinatal Hospice – Imprint of Life” in Lviv, Ukraine.

Receiving the award, she said life is always precious, “even if it is very, very small, and even if it is very short.”

“Any threat to the life and dignity of the person strikes the Church deeply in its heart,” Holubets said, noting that the organization’s motto is “I cannot give days to your life, however, I can give life to your days.”

“We are convinced that there is no foot too tiny to not leave its mark on this world,” she said.

The Iona Institute
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