On Friday, in a move that raised the eyebrows of some, Pope Francis consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. A good Jesuit, Francis is applying the maxim “Pray as if everything depended on God, work as if everything depended on you,” a Vatican official told La Croix’s Loup Besmond de Senneville. Read more
Under constant attack from Russian invading forces, a priest continues to minister in under-siege Ukraine, saying “We don’t have time to be frightened. We are staying and helping the people to survive this situation”. Brother Vasyl spoke with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) from a village near Mariupol in south-east Ukraine. Mariupol is Read more
The Vatican Secretary of State said that it is not too late for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and that the Holy See is willing to mediate between the two warring parties. Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Vatican is “willing to facilitate dialogue with Russia” and “ready to help” all parties involved to return Read more
In an unprecedented papal gesture, Pope Francis has travelled to the Russian Embassy in Rome to personally “express his concern about the war” in Ukraine. Francis later assured a top Ukrainian Greek Catholic leader he would do “everything I can” to help. Usually, popes receive ambassadors and heads of state in the Vatican. Diplomatic protocol Read more
A Catholic aid organisation is sending emergency support to the faithful in Ukraine as Russia invades the country. “The situation is getting worse every day. We live now from hour to hour” said Bishop Pavlo Honcharuk of Kharkiv, in a Thursday press release. He leads one of the dioceses that Aid to the Church in Read more
Expressing great sadness at the worsening situation in Ukraine, Pope Francis asked world leaders on Wednesday to make a “serious examination of conscience before God”. During his general audience on February 23, the pope called for people to fast for peace on March 2, Ash Wednesday. He prayed that “the Queen of Peace will preserve Read more
Pope Francis met with leaders of the Congregation for Eastern Catholic churches, many from countries dealing with conflict, saying human beings seem to be “champion in making war,” which should “make us all ashamed” Francis said it is tragic that humans seem to be “attached to wars”. “Humanity still seems to be groping in the Read more
The president of the Polish catholic bishops’ conference appealed on Monday to Christian leaders in Ukraine and Russia to unite in prayer with Poland to stave off war. “We are bound together by a common history and the holy Christian faith,” Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki wrote in a February 14 letter to the Orthodox and Catholic Read more
Pope Francis has been invited to Ukraine by the leader of the country’s Eastern-rite Catholics who said it would be a huge gesture to help bring peace at a time of tension with Russia. Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said there was no need to wait for conditions to be ideal, and the visit could take Read more