In its second appeal to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, the World Council of Churches asked that he use his spiritual authority to call for a ceasefire in Ukraine over the Eastern Orthodox Easter season so that believers will be able to celebrate the holiday in peace.
A Ukrainian Marine commander pleaded with Pope Francis to do everything to save the city of Mariupol, which is close to being captured by Russian forces.
With their homeland engulfed in war, Ukrainian-Americans are finding comfort these days in upholding traditions like elaborately decorated Easter eggs bearing uplifting messages and symbols.
The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.
Mass graves and the deceased still lying along the roadside became a kind of “Way of the Cross” where Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, stopped and prayed.
About a month ago, Eugene and Elizabeth Desyuk lived under the sounds of emergency sirens and slept in the corridor or basement of their Ukrainian home, fearful of an attack from Russian forces. On Monday, they were learning the alphabet and playing with toys alongside their new classmates at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy.
To wage war, which marks a failure of politics and humanity, is to surrender to the forces of evil, Pope Francis wrote in a new book.
Pope Francis blessed a special Easter basket during a private audience with Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and his family at the Vatican April 11.
On a recent trip to Ukraine, Magda Kaczmarek remembers a priest telling her that even though half of the church’s parishioners have fled, they maintain about the same number of faithful, with the addition of internally displaced Ukrainians — including non-Catholics.
At the start of Holy Week, Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an immediate ceasefire to the war in Ukraine, saying Easter is a time to choose life over death.
