A broken rosary has become the inspiration to heal the war-torn nation of Ukraine, thanks to the efforts of a Philadelphia-area Ukrainian Catholic man and a dedicated group of volunteers.
A broken rosary has become the inspiration to heal the war-torn nation of Ukraine, thanks to the efforts of a Philadelphia-area Ukrainian Catholic man and a dedicated group of volunteers.
Pope Francis has invited Catholics worldwide to renew the act of consecrating the church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, to Mary every March 25, the feast of the Annunciation.
As Ukraine faces the one-year anniversary Feb. 24 of the full-scale invasion of its country by Russian forces, Catholic Church leaders and providers of humanitarian relief there say the conflict has taken its toll but has not defeated the Ukrainian people.
Parishioners of a church that has been home to Lithuanian Catholics in the Diocese of Brooklyn for more than 100 years rolled out the red carpet for the president of their homeland on Sept. 20.
Not only would it be a “disaster” if Pope Francis visits Russia before going to Ukraine, as the pontiff has said he’d like to do, but should that happen, Ukrainian borders actually could be closed to Pope Francis, according to the Latin Archbishop of Lviv.
Pope Francis said he plans to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in September at an interreligious meeting in Kazakhstan.
During February and March, Warsaw train stations were overflowing with women and children, refugees from the war in Ukraine.
With hundreds of millions of lives at risk because of the Russian blockade of grain exports out of Ukraine, Pope Francis appealed for an end to the blockade and a resolution to the crisis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Albanians for supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia and compared their help to the actions of St. Teresa of Kolkata.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Pope Francis said he has reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin about meeting him in Moscow, warned Russian Patriarch Kirill against becoming an “altar boy” for the Kremlin, and compared the ongoing war in Ukraine to Rwanda’s genocide.