Wars always have wildly unforeseen consequences, eviscerating a status quo and violently shaping new realities. While most pundits are pondering the geopolitical, diplomatic and military fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s war also seems destined to have important consequences on the religious scene.
The Vatican is ready to facilitate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.
As Russian troops approached Ukraine’s capital, Pope Francis phoned the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, offering his encouragement and promising, “I will do everything I can” to help.
On Wednesday, Archbishop Borys Gudziak spent time in Lisieux, France, at the grave of St. Thérése, praying for Ukraine and for Russian President Vladamir Putin’s conversion, so that Russia and the rest of the world could be free of his tyranny.
As Russia continued its assault on Ukraine and Russian troops pressed toward the capital, Kyiv, Pope Francis left the Vatican Feb. 25 to pay a visit to the Russian ambassador to the Holy See.
Ambassadors to the Holy See, priests, religious and laity packed Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere to overflowing Feb. 24, pleading to God for peace in Ukraine.
The Diocese of Brooklyn’s Bishop Robert Brennan prayed for peace in Ukraine during a broadcasted Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights, Feb. 24.
As Russia fired missiles on several Ukrainian cities and Russian troops reportedly landed in Odessa, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church affirmed the right of Ukrainians to defend their homeland and assured his people that God would watch over them.
As the threat of war loomed over the world, Pope Francis called on people to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday.
With the “further escalation of tension in Ukraine,” the president of the Polish bishops’ conference asked Polish Catholics to continue praying for peace, but also to be prepared to welcome Ukrainian refugees.
