In honor of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross this week, Catholic bishops have issued a call for "Eucharistic Adoration" in all churches across Europe, asking that prayers be offered for peace in Ukraine.
As part of this initiative, the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) called on Catholics all over Europe to pray before the Blessed Sacrament on Sept. 14 for God to bring peace to Ukraine.Called for "Eucharistic Adoration" for Ukraine.
The Roman Catholic bishops in Ukraine provided the push for the Eucharistic Adoration when they announced the year 2022 to be the Year of the Holy Cross for Ukrainian Catholics.
According to The Catholic World Report, the bishops of Ukraine wrote a letter in which they state that since Russia invaded their country, they have been forced to travel the agonizing path of the cross.
Along this path, innocent people are being injured and killed, and there is a great deal of suffering
It also stated that on the feast day of Sept. 14, a liturgy and the Stations of the Cross were held at the Shrine of the Lord's Passion in Shargorod, Ukraine. This event marked the conclusion of the Year of the Holy Cross celebrations in the country.
In addition, the dioceses of Italy, Ireland, Poland, Croatia, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Norway, and a great number of other European nations have stated that they took part in the Eucaristic Adoration movement.
Meanwhile, as per the report, the following prayer was written by Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, who serves the Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Slovak Eastern Catholics in Great Britain, and published by the Council of European Bishops' Conferences to help guide a holy hour for peace in Ukraine on the Feast of the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
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Ukrainian Catholic Church Welcomes Ukraine's Progress
While the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church has urged the political and military leaders of his country to continue resisting foreign domination, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has expressed his satisfaction with the progress that Ukraine has made in recapturing Russian-occupied territory.
In a message released on the 200th day of the war, Kyiv-Major Halych's Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk expressed his condolences for the victims of the conflict. Although the counter-offensive was paved with the blood of Ukrainian soldiers, he said it was also a spiritual and moral reward for Ukraine.
According to The Tablet, The archbishop said that Ukraine is still on the battleground, fighting and praying, and for that they give thanks to God and their valiant military forces, men and women, who are defending their homeland from the barbaric Russian occupation.
Meanwhile, on Monday, it was claimed that Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles had retaken at least 2,000 square kilometers of territory that had been under Russian occupation near the city of Kharkiv in the country's northeast.
As a series of missile strikes knocked out electricity in the Kharkiv and Donetsk districts, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov vowed that Russian actions in Ukraine would continue until the tasks first assigned of "denazification and demilitarization" of Ukraine had been achieved.
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