We’re praying for peace in Ukraine – UCU community responds to call of Pope Francis

On 26 January at the call of Pope Francis, the community of the Ukrainian Catholic University joined in prayer for peace in Ukraine. The prayer vigil began with Divine Liturgy in the University Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, led by university Rector Fr. Bohdan Prach.

During his sermon, Fr. Rector Bohdan Prach noted that Ukrainians in recent weeks have an ambivalent feeling: on the one hand, we experience the joy of Christmas, but on the other we feel constant trepidation coming from Russia and holding Ukraine in tension through eight years of war.

“In the latest news we see how the discussion process is proceeding. But, regardless, foreign diplomats continue to evacuate. Even at our university, students who are studying with the Fulbright Program or Erasmus+ have been informed that they need to leave Ukraine. This worry does not allow us to live in peace and look to the future. His Holiness Pope Francis, understanding where the greatest threat is moving today, has asked Christians to unite in prayer. Today, together with other people throughout the world, we lift up our prayers, asking God for peace, calm, and unity,” said Fr. Bohdan Prach in his sermon.

The rector also added that our prayer should come from the depths of our hearts with full faith: “Let us remember that our daily prayer should come not from our own requests and needs but from great love for God. We should also fast and devote time to prayer and reading the Holy Bible. All this joins us by a thread of understanding with our Creator. We ourselves often feel the pulse of our faith – sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. Sometimes we are distant from God, when the temptations of this world fill our hearts, and sometime we are closer. It is prayer that stabilizes this pulse.”

Finally, the rector of UCU called all present in prayer to go to confession and Communion, to unite with God in great faith and in this union to ask for peace and calm in Ukraine.