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Yaroslav the Wise, the grand prince of Kyiv, dedicated his lands to Mary in 1037 and she has been known since then as “Queen of Ukraine.” Pope Francis used the title in his Angelus address on March 6, saying: “Let us pray together, as brothers and sisters, to Our Lady, Queen of Ukraine.” Before the revolutions of 1917 that overthrew the Russian Empire and led to the creation of the Soviet Union, Russia was colloquially known as the “house of Mary” because there were more shrines and churches dedicated to Our Lady than in any other country at the time. During the Fatima apparitions in 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary revealed three secrets. The second secret was a statement that World War I would end, and a prediction of another war that would start during the reign of Pius XI if people contin...

The pope’s words come following numerous reports last week of civilian casualties in Mariupol, amid Russia’s attempt to seize the strategically-located city as part of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.  On Wednesday, March 9, a Russian strike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol killed at least three people and injured at least 17, according to local officials. Amid heavy loss of life in the city, there have been reports of civilians being buried in mass graves.  Pope Francis said that Mariupol, a city of 400,000 which was founded and named for the Virgin Mary, “has become a city martyred” amid the assault.  “Faced with the barbarism of the killing of children, and of innocent and defenseless citizens, there are no strategic reasons that hold up: the on...

By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Mar 12, 2022 / 08:00 am On the eve of the Vatican’s trial of Cardinal Angelo Becciu for fraud, Pope Francis spoke to the city state’s court system about the importance of working together and listening to everyone to ensure a fair process. Synodality in judicial matters, the pope said on March 12, “means that all the participants in the process … are called to contribute to the ascertainment of the truth through the adversarial process, the confrontation of arguments and the careful examination of evidence.” “This walking together therefore requires an exercise in listening, which, as we know, belongs to the very nature of a fair trial,” he added. Becciu, who was forced to resign from the rights of members of the College of Cardinals in September 202...

In a letter to the pope, the Ukrainian bishops said that they were writing “in these hours of immeasurable pain and terrible ordeal for our people” in response to many requests for the consecration. “Responding to this prayer, we humbly ask Your Holiness to publicly perform the act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Ukraine and Russia, as requested by the Blessed Virgin in Fatima,” said the letter, published on the bishops’ website on Ash Wednesday, March 2. During the Fatima apparitions in 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary revealed three secrets. The second secret was a statement that World War I would end, and a prediction of another war that would start during the reign of Pius XI if people continued to offend God and Russia was not consecrated to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Si...

“I would also like to thank the journalists who put their lives at risk to provide information,” he expressed. “Thank you, brothers and sisters, for this service! A service that allows us to be close to the tragedy of that population and enables us to assess the cruelty of a war.” While he did not name particular journalists or countries aiding refugees, Pope Francis has, in the past, thanked the Polish people for their generosity in greeting those fleeing from Ukraine. Since the start of the invasion, Pope Francis has called for peace. He recently urged Catholics worldwide to pray and fast for Ukraine on Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of Lent on March 2.   On Feb. 25, he visited the Russian Embassy to the Holy See, located near the Vatican. Catholic author George Weig...

Following the end of World War II, he was ordained a priest in 1949 at the age of 22. He was trained at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1957-1959) in Rome before he was sent to the Philippines to serve as secretary in the apostolic nunciature in Manila. Cacciavillan went on to work in the nunciatures in Madrid and Lisbon before he returned to the Vatican in 1968 to take up a post as the head of the Information and Documentation Office for the Secretariat of State. Paul VI made Cacciavillan a titular archbishop and appointed him to be the apostolic pro-nuncio to Kenya in 1976. He spent five years in Kenya until John Paul II named him apostolic pro-nuncio to India in 1981 and the first apostolic pro-nuncio to the Kingdom of Nepal in 1985. John Paul II appointed Cacciavillan as the apo...

Bishop Zanchetta led the Diocese of Orán, located in northern Argentina, from 2013 until 2017. Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on Friday, March 4, after an Argentine court found him guilty of sexually abusing seminarians.   Bishop Zanchetta, 58, pleaded not guilty to the charge of “aggravated continued simple sexual abuse committed by a recognized minister of religion” on Feb. 21. He was accused of abusing two seminarians, who were identified by the acronyms “G.G.F.L.” and “C.M.”   The two victims said that Bishop Zanchetta had made “amorous proposals” and had requested “massages” from the two.  Bishop Zanchetta led the Diocese of Orán, located in northern Argentina, from 2013 until 2017. His episcopal appointment was one of the firs...