CWN - A Polish-born bishop who ministers in Crimea called upon European Catholics to pray and fast for the Church there.
The region, which had been part of the territory of Ukraine, was annexed by Russia following Russian military intervention and a plebiscite.
Auxiliary Bishop Jacek Pyl of Odessa-Simferopol, who said that it is “not the Church’s mission” to issue political statements, told the Italian Catholic news agency SIR that he entrusted Crimea to the Immaculate Heart of Mary after Sunday Mass.
“I feel like Jesus in the Gethsemane garden,” he said. “In the present circumstances, we need help and spiritual support, we call for prayer and fasting in this Lenten period because we need a miracle. But we also have faith, and we believe that God rules over history and guides us also this situation.”
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