Yakov Fedorov / Wikimedia Commons
CV NEWS FEED // One month after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Pope Francis consecrated Russia, Ukraine, and the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, entrusting the suffering nations to the Blessed Virgin’s care.
On March 25, 2022, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pope Francis led a Lenten penitential service in St. Peter’s Basilica, where he solemnly placed the fate of both nations into the hands of the Blessed Virgin.
“At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ,” he prayed. “The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.”
Pope Francis’ act of consecration was made in response to the request made by the Blessed Virgin Mary during her 1917 apparitions in Fatima, where she called for Russia to be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart to prevent war, persecution, and suffering in the world.
“You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times,” the Pope prayed. “In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.”
Although previous popes have performed similar consecrations, Pope Francis’ was unique in that it explicitly named both Russia and Ukraine, responding directly to the unfolding tragedy of war.
“This is no magic formula but a spiritual act,” the pope said in his homily at the service. “It is an act of complete trust on the part of 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.”
Bishops and faithful from around the world joined in the consecration, with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Papal Almoner, leading a simultaneous ceremony at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.
“May she now take our own journey into her hands,” Pope Francis concluded in his homily. “May she guide our steps through the steep and arduous paths of fraternity and dialogue, along the way of peace.”
One year later, Pope Francis appealed to the faithful to renew the consecration.
“Let us not tire of consecrating the cause of peace to the Queen of Peace,” he said during the March 22, 2023, General Audience in St. Peter’s Square. “I would like to invite every believer and community, especially prayer groups, to renew the Act of Consecration to Our Lady every 25th March, so that she, who is Mother, might preserve us all in unity and peace.”