Pope Francis has asked that today be a day of prayer for peace in Ukraine, and a local theologian who served as a missionary in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of the pope's request. Pope Francis said on Sunday that he is deeply concerned by growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
In a note to colleagues, Dr. Osborn, Diocesan Theologian for the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, shared the following:
"Pope Francis is asking all the faithful to pray for Ukraine in a special way tomorrow, Jan. 26. Just a few personal notes to share...I have many Ukrainian friends from my time serving there in the lay missions in the early 1990s. They are a remarkable people and deserve our fervent prayers. The people of Western Ukraine, especially, suffered great persecutions for their Catholic faith under communist rule.
I once met a Catholic priest who had been sentenced to a prison camp in Siberia simply because he refused to stop being a Catholic priest. I remember an elderly person who told me about how a communist force came to her village and crucified a local man of great faith to a tree -- as a warning to the village not to practice religion. For many decades, liturgies had to be celebrated in forests. And in the 1930s, under Stalin, Russia executed a mass starvation of Ukrainians that was unspeakably cruel. These and similar memories are still alive in the Ukrainian people as Russian troops now gather at their border. When I saw this article appear on our diocesan homepage, I wanted to add a personal touch to the urgent need to pray for our sisters and brothers in this country that has already suffered so much..."
Dr. Osborn was referring to the article below by Catholic News Service.
Dr. Daniel Osborn serves as Diocesan Theologian, Coordinator of Permanent Diaconate Formation and Ministry, and Bishop’s Delegate in Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Relations
UPDATE: Pope sets Jan. 26 as day of prayer for peace in Ukraine
By: Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Saying he was worried about Ukraine and how a possible Russian-Ukrainian conflict could spread, Pope Francis proclaimed Jan. 26 as a day of prayer for peace in Ukraine.
Responding to a buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian-Russian border and the inability of major powers to agree on a solution, Catholic bishops in Ukraine and Poland and Ukrainian Catholic bishops in the United States also called for prayers for the prevention of war.
After reciting the Angelus prayer Jan. 23, Pope Francis said, “I am following with concern the rising tensions that threaten to strike a new blow at peace in Ukraine and put into question the security of the European continent, with even wider repercussions.”
“I make a heartfelt appeal to all people of goodwill to pray to Almighty God that all political actions and initiatives will serve human fraternity rather than partisan interests,” the pope said.
“Those who pursue their own goals to the detriment of others despise their vocation as human beings, because we have all been created brothers and sisters,” he said. “For this reason and with concern given the current tensions, I propose that next Wednesday, Jan. 26, be a day of prayer for peace.”
Ukrainian Catholic bishops in the U.S. asked Catholics to pray, be informed, and donate to help those affected by Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis. “People near the front line often lack the basics — clean water, food, clothes, medicine,” they said.
They compared Russian buildup of troops to King Herod’s thirst for power and hegemony.
“This is a question of life and death, as nostalgia for an empire lost has led to senseless slaughter and immense suffering throughout Ukraine,” said the Jan. 22 statement signed by all five Ukrainian Catholic bishops in the United States.
“The war in Ukraine is real. It kills, maims and destroys daily. An escalated Russian invasion will generate additional millions of refugees, more dead and injured, more tears and pain. Still, the people of Ukraine courageously endure. As they stand with a gun to their head, they ask for our solidarity,” they said.
In a statement Jan. 24, Catholic bishops in Ukraine and Poland cited former popes, papal encyclicals and the Catechism of the Catholic Church to show Catholic teaching that war is never the answer to problems.
“The current situation represents a great danger for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the entire European continent, which may destroy the progress made so far by many generations in building a peaceful order and unity in Europe,” said the joint statement.
“We call upon those in power to refrain from hostilities. We encourage leaders to immediately withdraw from the path of ultimatums and the use of other countries as bargaining chips. Differences in interests must be resolved not by the use of arms, but through agreements,” they said.
They included a prayer from St. John Paul II that said, in part: “Hear the cry of all your children, the anguished plea of all humanity. Let there be no more war — an evil adventure from which there is no turning back; let there be no more war — a maelstrom of struggle and violence. Grant that the war … which threatens your creatures in heaven, on earth, and at sea may cease.”
Russia annexed Crimea in early 2014 and, shortly afterward, Russian-backed separatists began fighting Ukrainian government forces in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Some 1.5 million people have fled the region to other parts of Ukraine and thousands of civilians and soldiers have died or been injured.
While in the spring of 2021 Russia was accused by many Western nations of trying to provoke more active fighting by holding military exercises near the border, a massive Russian buildup of troops just over the border created alarm in early December. The buildup has continued and, late Jan. 22, Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office released a statement saying it had evidence that Russia was developing plans to install a pro-Russian government in Ukraine.