In a new Lenten reflection published just a few days after a tense interaction between President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Archbishop Timothy Broglio called for “courageous negotiations” to secure peace in Ukraine.
“As we begin the holy Season of Lent, a time of prayer, penance, and charity, we join our Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his solidarity with the ‘martyred people of Ukraine,” the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said. “We pray and hope that the United States, in concert with the wider international community, works with perseverance for a just peace and an end to aggression.”
“As our Holy Father reminded us in 2024, courageous negotiations require ‘boldness’ to ‘open the door’ for dialogue,” Archbishop Broglio added.
Archbishop Broglio, who is also the archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, pleaded for the respect of Ukrainians’ religious freedom.
“As Catholics, we are acutely aware that every past occupation of Ukraine has resulted in various degrees of repression of the Catholic Church in the country; we must not tolerate the forcing of our brothers and sisters underground again,” he said in the reflection, which was published on March 3. “I echo Pope Francis’ plea for respecting the religious freedom of all Ukrainians, ‘Please, let no Christian church be abolished directly or indirectly. Churches are not to be touched!’ ”
The fallout from the tense interaction between Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy, which occurred in the Oval Office with news cameras rolling on Feb. 28, has continued. Zelenskyy has since said he is ready to sign the minerals deal the sides had agreed to but was tabled after the argument.
Then, on March 2, Zelenskyy said that a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “is still very, very far away,” to which Trump responded, “What are they thinking?” in a social media post.
The reflection is a first for Archbishop Broglio as USCCB president, a role he was elected to in November 2022. Last year and in 2023, the USCCB echoed Pope Francis’ message and announced the annual Ash Wednesday collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.
To close the message, Archbishop Broglio highlighted the importance of Catholics praying and sacrificing for Ukraine this Lenten season. The message also announced the continuation of the conference’s annual Ash Wednesday collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.
“By contributing to this collection, Catholics in the United States can be assured that their assistance will directly help their struggling brothers and sisters in Ukraine, as well as in over twenty other countries in the region,” Archbishop Broglio said. “I invite America’s Catholics, in union with all men and women of good will, to pray for the peace of Ukraine and to contribute generously to assisting that suffering and courageous nation.”