Pope Francis has commissioned his cardinal secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, to close a Catholic pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Berdychiv in Ukraine on July 21, 2024. In a letter published (in Latin) by the Holy See press office on July 13 (written on June 24), the Pontiff urges pilgrims to pray for an end to the war.
This will be the Vatican secretary of state’s first visit to Ukraine since the start of the Russian offensive in February 2022. Previously, recalls Vatican News, Cardinal Parolin visited the country in June 2016, and in August 2021 for the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's declaration of independence.
On this latest visit, the secretary of state is scheduled to visit the Marian shrine of Berdychiv, run by Carmelites, in the Zhytomyr province, west of Kiev. The site, declared a national shrine in 2011, is home to an ancient icon of the Mother of God Snizhna — Our Lady of the Snows — which has been venerated since the 17th century.
A religious minority in Ukraine
In Berdychiv, the cardinal will celebrate the closing of the annual pilgrimage of Latin-rite Catholics, who represent less than 1% of the population — while the larger Greek-Catholic Church accounts for 7% of Ukrainians.
The "papal legate" will be accompanied by Fr. Ruslan Mykhalkiv, rector of the Kiev-Zhytomir seminary, and Fr. Andriy Lehovich, secretary to the Latin Church's Archbishop of Lviv.
In a message in Latin addressed to his representative, Pope Francis lamented the "fury of war" and urged pilgrims to implore "with one voice the gift of peace" so that "war may be brought to an end in Ukraine and throughout the world."
He also invited them to look to and imitate the example of Mary, "Blessed among women." The Pope lastly assures the Ukrainian people of his spiritual closeness.
