Before the general audience on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, Pope Francis descended from the panoramic car, in which he moved between sectors in St. Peter's Square, and, while welcoming the pilgrims, approached the group of Ukrainian military.
The Holy Father greeted and blessed the servicemen who took part in the military pilgrimage to Lourdes. There were also those who got wounded during combat missions in the ATO zone.
The Department of UGCC has told about the participants of the 28th international military pilgrimage to the Marian pilgrimage center in France, which lasted from May 20 to 22 and was entitled “The door is always open”, its main theme being God’s mercy.
Military servicemen from different countries participate in the pilgrimage and pray for peace every year. From 1996, the military and police of Ukraine joined this pilgrimage. It has become a tradition at the end of military action in France that the servicemen from Ukraine arrive for a meeting with the Pope.