Pope sending Parolin to Ukraine on journey of peace

By Alessandro De Carolis

Cardinal Pietro Parolin will represent Pope Francis in celebrations marking the conclusion, on 21 July, of a pilgrimage by Latin-Rite Ukrainian Catholics to the Marian Shrine of Berdychiv in northern Ukraine.

Confirmation of Cardinal Parolin’s commission, already announced earlier this year, came in a formal Letter in Latin naming the Vatican Secretary of State as Pontifical Legate for the event. The Holy Father’s Letter also named two priests – Fr Ruslan Mykhalkiv, rector of the seminary of the Kyiv-Zhytomir diocese; and Fr Andriy Lehovich, secretary to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins – to accompany Cardinal Parolin in his mission.

Centuries of pilgrimages and graces

Although Berdychiv was formally designated a national shrine only in 2011, Pope Francis in his Letter recalls the centuries-old tradition of pilgrimages to the Marian sanctuary. In 1630, the voivode (governor) of Kyiv, Yanush Tyshkevych founded a monastery there in gratitude for the liberation from the Tatars and donated an icon of the Mother of God “of the Snow,” painted in the 16th century. Devotion soon spread to the rest of the country, with pilgrims eager to come to kneel before the miraculous effigy of Our Lady.

Prayer for an end to wars

Today, more than ever, in this “sad and mournful period of war violence,” Ukraine is calling on the Virgin for a special grace, the grace of peace.

“You will encourage all participants in this event,” Pope Francis writes to Cardinal Parolin, “to unceasingly implore the Queen of Peace to put an end to war in Ukraine and in every part of the world, offering herself as an example of blessing among women to be imitated, since she is pleasing to God who humbles the proud and raises up the humble.”

The Letter ends with the Pope's invitation to bring his blessing, but also "benevolence and closeness in this extremely difficult time for the beloved people of Ukraine."