Bishop Stephen LEE announces that, from 20th March to 28th March 2022, in addition to the “Prayer to St. Roch”, the following prayer for peace recently shared by Pope Francis, will be recited in all parishes after public Masses, imploring God to forgive us for war, especially the war in Ukraine
The Claretian missions in Macau and Hong Kong launched earlier this month a fundraising campaign to help the thousands of Ukrainian citizens who have escaped the war-torn nation and have taken refuge in neighboring Poland.
A friend from Poland sent me an endless video, filmed with the cell phone: a huge queue, going around a corner and around another corner and on and on… to a place to give blood to send to Ukraine.
Pope Francis asked and the local Catholic communities complied. Hundreds of people packed the local churches on Wednesday to pray for peace in the world and in Ukraine, in particular. The Supreme Pontiff called on people to pray and fast for peace in Eastern Europe.
Yet we know very well how war is part of human life, it is something that we could never completely eliminate, even if we wanted to. A traditional saying goes: si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war.