From Ash Wednesday, and throughout Lent, the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences throughout our Continent invite us to pray for the victims of the pandemic.
On many occasions, the bishops from all over Europe have joined their voice to that of Pope Francis to reiterate the Church’s closeness to all those struggling with the coronavirus: the victims and their families, the sick and the health workers, the volunteers and all those on the front line at this sensitive time.
Now, throughout the Lenten period, they are launching a prayer network, a Eucharistic chain, for the more than 770,000 people in Europe who have died from Covid-19.
“Together, we have assessed the opportunity, or rather the need to remember in the Holy Mass in a particular way during this season of Lent, the victims, the numerous victims of the pandemic – declares Cardinal Bagnasco in his message to launch this initiative. – Each European Bishop’s Conference has engaged in the organization of at least one Mass: It will be like creating a prayer chain, a Eucharistic chain in memory and in suffrage of so many people. In this prayer we also want to remember the bereaved families and all those who are still suffering from the virus and whose lives remain in uncertainty”.
The initiative, which will involve all the European Bishops’ Conferences, according to the attached calendar, aims to offer a sign of communion and hope for the entire Continent: “We, the Bishops of Europe, are all united alongside our Christian communities and our priests. We are grateful to all those who continue to devote themselves to those most in need. We support them with our words, and above all, with our prayers so that their commitment and their hope that we must all have, maintain and increase can help us to look forward together to a better future”.
