For the fourth straight year, Ukrainian Catholics gathered at Holy Name Cathedral to mark the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine and to pray for peace and for those who have died in the conflict.
Bishop Benedict Aleksiychuk of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy led the Feb. 21 service that started with a walk from North Michigan Avenue to the cathedral with participants carrying signs and Ukrainian flags and chanting for peace.
Once inside the cathedral, participants, many with Ukrainian flags draped over their shoulders, took part in Panakhyda, a prayer to remember the dead. The choir from St. Nicholas Cathedral School led both the Ukrainian and U.S. national anthems and a closing prayer.
Rev. Joseph Abouid from Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago and Sharan Kaur Singh from the Sikh community offered prayers and remarks from the interfaith community.
Bishop Lawrence Sullivan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, told the gathering that the archdiocese stands with Chicago’s Ukrainian community in their suffering.
“In the end, we are one body. We come from many diverse backgrounds with unique gifts and talents,” Bishop Sullivan said. “We have far more things in common than the things that separate us.”
The world suffers when there is war, he said, but the suffering of those in Ukraine is beyond comprehension.
“Let us pray that God’s call for peace may permeate the hearts of those that wage battle against the innocent,” he said. “Let us unite our hearts with those who mourn the loss of loved ones, those who live under the constant threat of impending danger and those who are far from their loved ones during this terrible conflict.
Bishop Aleksiychuk addressed the gathering in Ukrainian and thanked Catholics in the archdiocese and the wider church in the U.S. for their support of his people since the war began.
He described the war as a way of the cross for Ukrainians — a cross that must be carried with courage, perseverance and trust in God.
Bishop Aleksiychuk expressed hope that Ukraine’s suffering will lead to renewal, justice and lasting peace, as Christ’s suffering led to the glory of the Resurrection.
On Feb. 24, the anniversary of the start of the war, seventh graders at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic School, 2200 W. Rice St., organized another service to pray for peace and to share personnel experiences of the war from families and children in the school and those in Ukraine.