Russian Catholic Bishops Courageous Under Putin
October 31, 2022
Above: the Latin rite Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow, which was restored and rebuilt after the fall of Soviet Communism.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Putin in February this year, the Russian Catholic bishops have shown the courage incumbent upon successors of the Apostles. We must remember that our brethren in Russia, of the Latin and Greco-Slavonic rites, are a tiny minority who were viciously persecuted under the Soviets, and have slowly built back their churches and numbers over the past few generations.
As war propaganda has escalated in Russia, this has only increased the tension upon Catholics as direct criticism of the war is an illegal and chargeable offence. Faced with the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian bishops fearlessly called Russian politicians to their responsibility for aggression before God.
Consecration of Russia
With the March 25 consecration of Russian and Ukraine to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, it is clear that the Blessed Virgin has galvanised the Russian and Ukrainian Catholic bishops to lay down their life for their sheep. Tirelessly His Beatitude, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who proclaimed that the Consecration would be “victory over evil,” continues daily to shepherd his flock, our Ukrainian Catholic brethren, in the face of invasion and the horrors of war. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Bishop Ihor Isichenko has led his entire diocese into the Catholic Church. [Read more at OnePeter5...]
