Vatican City. Pope Francis consecrates the Church, all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the annual “24 Hours for the Lord” Lenten penitential service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday, March 25, 2022, Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord.
He said that it is “not a magic formula but a spiritual act. It is an act of complete trust on the part of children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their Mother, reposing all their fears and pain in her heart and abandoning themselves to her.”
The Pontiff has said that God chose the Virgin Mary to change history by beginning a new story of salvation and peace. And so, “if we want the world to change, then first our hearts must change.”
The Holy Father invited all the bishops of the world to be in communion with this act and replicate it in their respective dioceses. In Portugal, the Papal Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, did the same at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima at the same time in the Vatican.
The basilica was filled with the clergy, lay faithful, and religious. At the same time, bystanders, pilgrims, devout Catholics, and people from different races gathered outside the basilica in St. Peter Square as they watched the Pope on the big screens installed at the plaza. Two areas in front of the basilica were provided for those who wanted to do the sacrament of reconciliation.
For the complete text of the Act of Consecration: CLICK HERE.
