The Apostolic Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, attended the ‘Stand With Ukraine’ rally in Trafalgar Square, central London on Saturday, 5 March, and spoke to the crowd of Pope Francis’ closeness to, and prayers for, the suffering of the war in Ukraine.
“I bring to all Ukrainians present the solidarity and closeness of Pope Francis. In these days his heart and his prayers are in your beloved homeland. The blood of your loved ones cries out, like Abel’s, towards heaven.”
Addressing the estimated 2,000-strong crowd, Archbishop Gugerotti assured them that many prayers were being said for a conversion of heart of those who want war:
“Today we are all Ukrainians, all in solidarity with you! We pray to God to convert the hearts of those who want war. Where is the reason, where is the heart, where is faith, where is progress? God says: ‘I do not want your prayers when you kill.’ Because the living man is the glory of God. We want love, not war. Holy Mother of God, save us”.
Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, Eparchial bishop for Ukrainian, Belarusian and Slovak Eastern Catholics in the UK accompanied the Nuncio alongside Archbishop Bernard Longley, the Archbishop of Birmingham, and Monsignor Keith Newton from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
You can look through a gallery of images from the Trafalgar Square rally on our Flickr Photostream.
