A delegation of Ukrainian military servicemen led by His Eminence Mykhayil (Koltun), Chair of the Department of the Patriarchal Curia of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church for Pastoral Counseling of the defense and law enforcement bodies of Ukraine had an opportunity to greet personally Pope Francis, to ask for the Holy Father’s prayers and to get his blessing.
According to Fr Lyubomyr Yavorivskyy, Deputy Chair of the Department, the military servicemen offered to the Pope a lampion that was blessed in Kyiv, at Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square at the beginning of pilgrimage and traveled in the hands of military students across the shrines of Europe. It was lit during the ceremonies in Lourdes while praying for peace in Ukraine and all over the world.
The young servicemen thanked the Holy Father for the prayer support of Ukrainians, and asked the Apostle Peter’s successor to continue praying for peace in our country and invited Pope Francis to Ukraine.
Each participant of the audience was granted a rosary with the Holy Father’s blessing, the UGCC Information Department reports.
Note that the Ukrainian delegation came from Lourdes, where the 56th international military pilgrimage ended. During the week-long pilgrimage the military servicemen together with chaplains visited the Christian shrines in Budapest, prayed to St. Anthony in Padua and today they are leaving for Vienna to visit the city’s Ukrainian parish and to participate in the Divine Liturgy.