Throughout Lent, the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe prayed for the victims of the pandemic with a special commemoration during the Eucharistic Celebrations. It was a special way for the Church to show its closeness to the victims and their families, a sign of communion and hope for the entire continent: “We, the Bishops of Europe – stated Cardinal Bagnasco, CCEE President – 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”.
The ‘Eucharistic chain’ started on 17 February, Ash Wednesday, with the Holy Mass celebrated in Albania and Austria, which initiated the sequence of Presidents and General Secretaries of the national Bishops’ Conferences and concluded on 1 April, Maunday Thursday, with the celebration of Mass in Hungary and in the residence of Cardinal Bagnasco, CCEE President, in Genoa.
In order to give the faithful the opportunity to participate in this prayer, many of these celebrations were broadcast on the Internet, radio or television.
Each individual Bishops’ Conference organised the celebration as it saw fit: sending to all parishes a prayer of the faithful with a special intention for the victims, inviting all the nation’s bishops to join in the prayer, entrusting video messages of their closeness to the victims and the sick, with a special commemoration during the homily.
Below you can find the material sent to us by the communication offices for 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.
