By Philip Pullella
VATICANCITY – Pope Francis led the world’s Catholic bishops on Friday in praying for peace between Russia and Ukraine, saying the world had forgotten the tragedies of the twentieth century and was nonetheless menaced by nuclear warfare.
Francis presided at a service in St. Peter’s Basilica through which he entrusted the safety of all humanity, “particularly Russia and Ukraine,” to Mary, who Christians consider is the Mom of God and who can intercede with him in heaven.
At about the identical time, 1000's of bishops in cathedrals and chapels world wide have been studying the identical prayer in native languages, leading to probably the most exactly coordinated world Church occasion in dwelling reminiscence.
In a separate homily earlier than reciting the prayer, Francis spoke of “scenes of demise” through which “bombs are destroying the properties of a lot of our defenceless Ukrainian brothers and sisters” and of “a merciless and mindless warfare that threatens our world”.
Each the Ukrainian and Russian ambassadors to the Vatican attended, sitting on separate sides of the aisle.
Since Russia invaded its neighbour on Feb. 24 in what it calls a “particular navy operation”, the pope has implicitly criticised Moscow, strongly condemning what he has known as an “unjustified aggression” and denouncing “atrocities,” however he had not talked about Russia by title.
He used the phrases Russia and Russians on Friday, albeit as a part of a prayer and a homily.
“We've got forgotten the lesson discovered from the tragedies of the final century, the sacrifice of the tens of millions who fell in two world wars … we've closed ourselves in nationalist pursuits,” the pope mentioned within the prayer, whose formal title was “An Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Coronary heart of Mary”.
The act denounced the stockpiling of weapons, the destruction of the atmosphere, greed and the unfold of abortion. It requested Mary to “eradicate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and educate us forgiveness, free us from warfare, shield our world from the menace of nuclear weapons”.
Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, the Vatican ambassador who has remained in Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion final month, mentioned earlier than Friday’s occasion he would learn the prayer from a makeshift altar in a kitchen in a secure room within the embassy in Kyiv.
LINKWITHFATIMA
Within the Portuguese city of Fatima, papal envoy Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, one of many pope’s closest aides, learn the identical prayer close to the spot the place Mary is claimed to have appeared repeatedly in 1917 to 3 shepherd kids.
The hyperlink with Fatima is crucial to understanding the non secular and political significance of Friday’s consecration.
The Church says that within the apparition of July 13, 1917, Mary requested that Russia be consecrated to her, in any other case it might “unfold her errors all through the world, inflicting wars and persecutions of the Church” and that “varied nations will likely be annihilated”.
After the 1917 Russian revolution and through the Chilly Warfare between the West and the Soviet Union, the “Message of Fatima” turned a rallying level for anti-communism in Christianity.
Related acts of consecration of the world have been carried out by previous popes in 1942, 1952, 1964, 1981, 1982 and 1984.
The pope’s determination to hold out Friday’s consecration was welcomed by some Church traditionalists who typically oppose Francis. They are saying some or the entire earlier consecrations could not have been legitimate as a result of they didn't adhere exactly to Mary’s directions to the visionary kids.
Post a Comment