Pope asks Catholics to renew consecration of world to Mary every March 25 March 23, 2023By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, War in Ukraine, World News VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has invited Catholics worldwide to renew the act of consecrating the church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, to Mary every March 25, the feast of the Annunciation. Pope Francis asked Catholics worldwide to renew the consecration and pray for peace. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) At the end of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 22, the pope recalled last year’s service “when, in union with all the bishops of the world, the church and humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, were consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” “Let us not tire of entrusting the cause of peace to the Queen of Peace,” he said, asking that people not forget “troubled Ukraine, which is suffering so much.” 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.” As Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine entered its second month Pope Francis pronounced the Act of Consecration after leading a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica March 25, 2022. He had asked bishops around the world to join him the same day in consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In his homily during the Lenten penance service, Pope Francis had said the Act of Consecration was “no magic formula but a spiritual act” of trust by “children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their mother, reposing all their fears and pain in her heart and abandoning themselves to her.” “It means placing in that pure and undefiled heart, where God is mirrored, the inestimable goods of fraternity and peace, all that we have and are, so that she, the mother whom the Lord has given us, may protect us and watch over us,” the pope had said. Read More Vatican News Lord of the Dance meets Shepherd of the Flock: Michael Flatley greets Pope Leo XIV at Vatican Pope Leo XIV meets with Catholic Charities USA leadership, urges mission of compassion Augustinian charisms of truth, unity, love revealed in Pope Leo’s pastoral style, say panelists Pope Leo condemns violence after bomb attack in Colombia Pope Leo on the dignity of work: 9 quotes for St. Joseph the Worker 2 Vatican dicasteries jointly release document on ‘integral ecology’ in family life Copyright © 2023 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Print
