By Matters India reporter

Panaji, Feb 28, 2022: In a Lenten circular to the people of his archdiocese Archbishop Filipe Neri of Goa-Daman has requested them to keep Ash Wednesday as a day of prayer and fasting for the people in Ukraine.

“Our Holy Father Pope Francis himself has given a universal call to make the forthcoming Ash Wednesday (March 2) a day of fasting and prayer, particularly for peace in Ukraine and Russia. In solidarity with the Pope, I too urge the clergy, religious and lay faithful in our Archdiocese to spend this day in prayer and fasting, for the end of the violence which is afflicting the Ukrainian and the Russian people.”

“The military operation launched by Russia on the neighboring Republic of Ukraine, aiming at a full-scale invasion of that country, has sent shock waves throughout the globe and is threatening world peace. As followers of the Prince of Peace, we cannot remain indifferent to this grave situation; we need indeed to arm ourselves with the spiritual ‘weapons’ of prayer and sacrifice,” said the archbishop, who is the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in India, the national body of India’s Latin rite bishops.

“Although we look forward to coming Wednesday as a special day of prayer, we need to begin and keep praying with intensity even now, as the conflict continues to rage with every passing day, not showing any signs of abatement,” Archbishop Ferraro added.

“Let us therefore raise in prayer to the Almighty the highly volatile situation in Eastern Europe and in some other parts of the globe and earnestly pray for world peace. We may even pray our daily Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for this exclusive intention during these days,” he added.

He requested the community of the faithful, “to remind ourselves that only Christ can deliver us from the clutches of the Evil One, whose chief strategy is to sow disunity and discord among peoples and individuals. May our prayer and sacrifice help combat and vanquish the forces which seek to divide the human family by promoting conflict and warfare.”