Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday.
At the end of a penitential service in St. Peter’s Basilica on 25 March, the Pope carried out the act, saying: “Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.”
“Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world,” he prayed, on the same day that the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
Seated before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from a shrine in central Italy, Pope Francis said: “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.”
“Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.”
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, also read the act of consecration at the same time in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.
The act of consecration took place at the end of the Vatican’s annual Lenten penance service, during which Pope Francis and other priests heard the confessions of Catholics present in St. Peter’s Basilica.