Ukraine

Jesuit Refugee Services has converted the former mansion of a wealthy businessman into a home for some two dozen women and children fleeing Russia’s brutal attacks on Ukraine.

The Cardinal visited Ukraine May 9-10 on behalf of the Nordic bishops’ conference, which comprises Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. The purpose of the visit, Cardinal Arborelius said, was “to convey our solidarity and prayers to the faithful of Ukraine.”

Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S. are hailing a surprise meeting between Pope Francis and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a mixture of elation and wariness.

he topics of the conversation May 13 included “the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused by the ongoing war,” the Vatican press office said.

Shortly after urging people to pray the rosary for peace and entrusting the people of Ukraine to Mary’s care, Pope Francis met briefly with Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, director of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church

The Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known colloquially as the “Dominican Church,” is the best-known landmark in Ternopil in western Ukraine. Before World War II, it was a Dominican Catholic Church, closed by the communists in 1945 and handed over to Ukrainian Catholics in 1989. For many Ukrainians pouring westward to flee conflict, the baroque 18th-century church with its distinct twin bell towers, standing tall above the old city’s red rooftops, proved a natural beacon for those propelled far from home.

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The pope invited “every believer and community, especially prayer groups, to renew every March 25 the Act of Consecration to Our Lady, so that she, who is mother, may preserve us all in unity and peace.”