Starting on Ash Wednesday, and continuing throughout the Lenten season, the Presidents of our continent’s Bishops’ Conferences celebrated Holy Mass to invoke peace in Ukraine and to pray for those who have died as a result of the war and of covid.
The Lenten initiative, called a ‘Eucharistic chain’, and conceived as a sign of the Church’s closeness to the victims of covid and their families, this year also became an opportunity to pray for the victims of the war and to invoke peace in Ukraine.
The European bishops join their voice, said H.E. Msgr Gintaras Grušas, Archbishop of Vilnius and CCEE President, with that of the Pope to call for a halt to arms, an immediate end to the war in Ukraine and for work towards peace.
From Bratislava, where the third edition of the European Catholic Social Days was taking place, they joyfully welcomed Pope Francis’ invitation to the bishops of the world and their priests to join him in praying for peace and in consecrating and entrusting Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Each individual Bishops’ Conference organised the celebration as it saw fit: sending all the parishes a proposal for the prayers of the faithful with special intentions linked to the initiative, inviting all the nation’s bishops to join in the prayer, and creating video messages to express their closeness to the victims, the sick, those who have lost everything and had to leave their land because of the war, also with a special mention during the homily.
Below you can find the material sent to us by the communication offices of the Bishops’ Conferences: a photo gallery with some shots of the celebrations, some of the video messages, a summary of the local initiatives, the homilies given by the prelates.
Link to download all the material:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1kvjppnsifuysbw/AAB6YqwUi2_QUgc55SoqNdoxa?dl=0
