Bishop Robert Brennan came to St. James Cathedral Basilica on Friday to consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In doing so, he was heeding a call from Pope Francis to the world’s bishops to perform the Act of Consecration in the hope of bringing peace to the two warring nations.
The Biden administration said March 24 that the United States plans to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians as refugees.
A Catholic bishop in the threatened Ukrainian port of Odessa warned of “ferocious resistance” if Russian forces launch a frontal assault.
Catholic leaders warn the exodus of Ukrainian women and children presents a prime opportunity for human trafficking, and they are taking steps to protect the refugees.
Thoughts come to my mind: Why do young people and children have to live this experience? Why are they forced to spend their mornings and days in Lviv at the Catholic University of Ukraine?
Father Volodymyr Radko had one of the best days of his life — and one of the worst — in a span of just 12 days. On Feb. 12, he was ordained at St. Sophia Church on the campus of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, the city where he was born. On Feb. 24, the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.
While Pope Francis and bishops around the world will consecrate themselves and all humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, they will include the phrase, “especially Russia and Ukraine.”
The Polish Conference of Major Superiors of Women said March 15 that an estimated 18,000 refugees from Ukraine were receiving spiritual, psychological, medical and material help at 924 convents in Poland and that close to 500 of those communities are sheltering almost 3,000 adults — mostly women — and more than 3,000 children.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not just a tragic conflict between two nations, but the center of a spiritual battle wrought by the forces of evil that have pitted brother against brother, said the apostolic nuncio to Ukraine.
Pope Francis telephoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the president addressed the Italian parliament via video link March 22.
