Ukrainian Eparch encourages UK Catholics to pray for peace in Ukraine

Pope Francis has called for a day of prayer for peace in Ukraine as the threat of Russian troops invading the Eastern European country continues to rise.

Catholics around the world will join in prayer on Wednesday, 26 January.

The Right Reverend Kenneth Nowakowski is the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London.

We spoke to Bishop Nowakowski about the alarming situation in Ukraine, the various prayer initiatives and live streams, the history, how we can respond in England and Wales and the long-term pathway to peace.

“We can pray along with the Ukrainian people and people of goodwill throughout the world for peace because it will not only be Ukrainians or Ukrainian citizens who will suffer in this, it’ll also be Russian citizens whose fathers, brothers, husbands will be involved in the fighting and will also be suffering…

“Any form of peace starts at home, in your own heart, in the community that you live in. If we live in a country of peace, if we live in a community of peace, if we live in our homes in peaceful ways, this will affect the way the world also lives. So I think the first thing is to make sure that we are a peaceful people, a peace-loving people, a people that know how to cooperate with each other, that respect each other – that is an example for the world.”