Many of the religious sisters, priests, and ambassadors accredited to the Holy See who packed into the Marian basilica for the Mass wore ribbons with the colors of the Ukrainian flag that were distributed at the door of the basilica.
Dmytro Morozov, the artistic director of the Kharkiv Opera, played the organ for the Mass, which included traditional Ukrainian chant and hymns.
The prayers of the faithful included a prayer in Ukrainian: “O God who is love, the author of justice and peace, protect from all aggression the people who call upon you so that, trusting in your defense, they will not fear the weapons of any enemy.”
Pope Francis was not present at the Mass, but before the Mass the pope met privately with Ukrainian Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki of Lviv and Bishop Jan Sobiło, an auxiliary bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia in Ukraine.
In an interview published on Nov. 18, Pope Francis said that the Holy See is “willing to do everything possible to mediate and put an end to the conflict” in Ukraine.
“But everyone must commit to demilitarizing hearts, starting with their own, and then defusing, disarming violence. We must all be pacifists. Wanting peace, not just a truce that may only serve to rearm. Real peace, which is the fruit of dialogue,” the pope told the Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.
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