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Pope Francis Consecrates Russia, Ukraine and “All Humanity” to Mary’s Immaculate Heart
In answer to requests from Ukraine’s Catholic bishops — and many around the globe for decades — on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, the Holy Father Pope Francis pronounced his prayer requesting the consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in union with all the bishops of the world.
In the messages connected with Fatima, there is a central place given a request to individual and collective repentance for sins and acts of reparation for the harm caused by those actions and omissions. “Repentance is the key to Fatima,” Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC, Rector of the National Shrine of Divine Mercy, has said. “The Blessed Mother asks us to make reparation through sacrifice for sinners.”
In this context, the consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is more than an act of religious piety; it is rather a commitment, by all, to repent of sin and to make reparation for the harm caused by sin, in order to bring about that peace and holiness of life willed by God for the world.
– Robert Moynihan, Editor
CONSECRATION OF RUSSIA AND UKRAINE: AN ANALYSIS
• BY MATT GASPERS
Photo Grzegorz Galazka
On March 25, 2022, the 38th anniversary of John Paul II’s consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984, Pope Francis consecrated “the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine” [1] to the same Immaculate Heart. Following a Lenten Penance service held in St. Peter’s Basilica, the current Successor of Peter sat before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima and accomplished the act of consecration which the Vatican had announced just 10 days prior. on March 15. [2]
Two days after that surprise an nouncement — a response to an appeal from Ukraine’s Catholic bishops [3] — Catholic Family News broke the news that Archbishop Christoph Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, had sent a letter to Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), informing him: “In the context of the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine, the Holy Father, Pope Francis will lead an Act of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25th.” [4]
The Vatican’s official representative in America further informed Archbishop Gomez that Pope Francis “intends to invite each Bishop, or equivalent in law, together with his priests, to join in this act of consecration, if possible, at an hour corresponding to 5pm Rome time,” an invitation which Francis did indeed extend via a letter dated March 21: “I ask you to join in this Act by inviting the priests, religious and faithful to assemble in their churches and places of prayer on 25 March, so that God’s Holy People may raise a heartfelt and choral plea to Mary our Mother. I am sending you the text of the prayer of consecration, so that all of us can recite it throughout that day, in fraternal union.” [5]
THE “ACT OF CONSECRATION” TEXT
The “text of the prayer of consecration,” released with the Pope’s Letter to Bishops, [6] runs just over 1,000 words and contains clear allusions to hallmarks of the Francis pontificate. “We stopped being our neighbor’s keepers and stewards of our common home,” the text reads in the second paragraph, and continues, “We have ravaged the garden of the earth,” both obvious references to his 2015 eco-encyclical Laudato Si.
The “Act of Consecration” likewise laments that “in our own day... fraternity has faded,” harkening back to his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti “on Fraternity and Social Friendship” — itself inspired by the heterodox “Document on Human Fraternity” signed the previous year. The text even invokes Our Lady under the novel title of “Queen of the Human Family,” rather than “Queen of Families” (Litany of Loreto), [7] asking her to “show people the path of fraternity.”
On the other hand, the text also includes traditional Marian invocations and pious appeals, imploring that through Our Lady’s intercession “God’s mercy [may] be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.”
The affirmation that God “has given you [Mary] to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity” calls to mind the following words of Our Lady spoken during her second apparition at Fatima (June 13, 1917): “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.” [8]
Interestingly, the only allusion to a Marian apparition found in the “Act of Consecration” refers not to Fatima but to Guadalupe: “Say to us once more: ‘Am I not here, I who am your Mother?’” Our Lady spoke these words to Juan Diego (Dec. 12, 1531) to assure him that his uncle, Juan Bernardino, who had suddenly become deathly ill, would be cured. [9]
The crucial portion of the text appears towards the end and reads (emphasis added):
Article continued in Inside the Vatican magazine's May/June 2022 issue
