Pope Francis began the month of March by speaking out against the war in Ukraine, offering the Vatican in service of bringing the fighting to an end.
POPE FRANCIS
The Holy See is willing to do whatever is necessary, to put itself at the service of peace.
And the Pope acted on his words. During the Angelus he announced that he was sending Cardinals Konrad Krajewski and Michael Czerny into Ukraine as his envoys to demonstrate his closeness to the Ukrainian people.
The Pope then participated in five days of spiritual exercises with the Roman curia. Due to the pandemic, they were done in isolation rather than outside of Rome as done in past years.
Yet the following week, Pope Francis continued with his powerful condemnations of the war.
POPE FRANCIS
In the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre!
As part of his efforts to work for peace, Pope Francis held a video call with the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, in which the Pope told him to use the language of Jesus, and not politics, regarding the war.
Also in March, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, formerly the Vatican's number three, took the stand to defend himself in an ongoing trial in which he maintained his innocence before accusations of misappropriating funds from the Vatican's Secretariat of State.
After years of anticipation, the Vatican also released its new Apostolic Constitution, “Praedicate Evangelium,” restructuring the Roman Curia to shift its focus toward evangelization.
CARD. MARCELLO SEMERARO,
Prefect, Congregation for the Causes of Saints
In a context where even Italy can no longer be described as Christian, it makes sense that the focus must be evangelization.
Among its significant changes are that it opened the door for laypeople to lead the many departments that make up the Vatican, and vested greater power in regional bishops' conferences in the Church's decision-making.
March also saw Pope Francis meet with the President of Lebanon, a country he has long expressed his desire to visit...
...as well as the Pope's second phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the start of the war. Zelenskyy told the Pope that he appreciated any mediating role of the Holy See to end human suffering.
The Pope then ended the month of March by consecrating Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a solemn ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica.
POPE FRANCIS
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.
Pope John Paul II had consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the same day in 1984.
JM
