The Armenian Cathedral of Lviv. / Jennifer Boyer via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 7, 2022 / 14:25 pm (CNA).
A picture of a statue of Christ being removed from the Armenian Cathedral of Lviv for safekeeping has gone viral on Twitter.
The picture, which was posted by Tim Le Berre on March 5, shows five men lowering a statue of Christ through a wall. A follow-up tweet from Le Berre depicts the statue wrapped in packaging foam sheets ahead of transport.
Jesus Christ statue being taken out of Armenian Cathedral of Lviv, Ukraine, to be stored in a bunker for protection. The last time it was taken out was during WWII. pic.twitter.com/vjWxa00ecW
According to Le Berre, the statue will “be stored in a bunker for protection,” and the last time the statue was removed was World War II.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Lviv, which is in western Ukraine near Poland, was subject to airstrikes. Since the invasion began, Lviv has become a “western capital” of the country as Kyiv, the capital, came under attack.
The Armenian Cathedral of Lviv, which was first constructed in 1363, has an interesting history that has been marked by a series of fires, wars, and other societal upheaval. From the 1600s until 1945, the cathedral was home to the Armenian Catholic population of Lviv.
In 1945, following the Second World War and the annexation of Lviv by the Soviet Union, Soviet authorities arrested Rev. Dionizy Kajetanowicz, the cathedral’s rector, after he refused to become an Orthodox priest. Kajetanowicz died in a gulag nine years later. During this time, most Polish Armenian Catholics were forced to leave Lviv for Poland.
The Armenian Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv has been vacant since 1938.
In 2000, the cathedral became custody of the newly-established Eparchy of Ukraine of the Armenian Apostolic Church, but Armenian Catholics are still permitted to use the cathedral for liturgies.
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Pope Francis speaking to pilgrims on All Saints Day, Nov. 1, 2022 / Vatican Media
CNA Newsroom, Nov 1, 2022 / 05:26 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Tuesday called on Catholics to “disarm their hearts” and become peacemakers. “Peace is not achiev… […]
Pro-life supporters march in this year’s March for Life in Ottawa, Canada, May 9, 2024. / Credit: Peter Stockland
Ottawa, Canada, May 10, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
Thousands of pro-lifers packed onto Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, and spilled out onto Wellington Street on May 9 for the 27th annual National March for Life.
The diverse crowd gathered on the Hill at noon with its members bearing both homemade and professionally crafted signs pledging them to stand fast for the unborn and vulnerable.
The march’s theme, “I Will Never Forget You” was taken from the prophet Isaiah’s poignant question: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast?”
Participants in the Ottawa, Canada, March for Life on May 9, 2024, sing the national anthem. Credit: Peter Stockland
The rally and march were broadcast live by the U.S. cable network EWTN. (Editor’s note: EWTN is the parent company of Catholic News Agency.)
This year’s speakers included pro-life speaker and author Abby Johnson, President of 40 Days for Life Shawn Carney, and Campaign Life Coalition Vice-Chair Jeff Gunnarson.
The opening prayer was led by Father Daniel Szwarc, OMI, who traveled to Ottawa from the Arctic Circle together with three young women engaged in pro-life activities in their small Inuit village of Naujaat.
Diana Kringayark told the crowd that every week she and the other women buy baby products to distribute to 40 village families to show that “every baby is important.”
Diana Kringayark shares about her pro-life ministry in Naujaat, Nunavut, at the Ottawa March for Life on May 9, 2024. Credit: Peter Stockland
Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Damphousse encouraged the marchers to act with “courage, compassion, and conviction.”
Conservative members of Parliament Cathay Wagantall and Arnold Viersen were the only federal politicians to address the crowd.
In her brief speech, Wagantall emphasized that advocating for the unborn and the vulnerable is particularly difficult for Canadian politicians. But she hailed the number of young people in the crowd as a sign of hope.
“If you think it is a battle out here, you know it is a battle in there,” the Saskatchewan member of Parliament said, indicating the Houses of Parliament behind her.
Angelina Steenstra of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign introduced Nathalia Comrie, a young woman who, at 17, was pregnant and felt that “abortion was the only choice my family would accept.” She said she was told that “everything would go back to normal after the abortion.”
Nathalia Comrie shares the story of her abortion and the support she received from Silent No More Awareness Campaign and the Sisters of Life at the Ottawa, Canada, March for Life on May 9, 2024. Credit: Peter Stockland
“That was a lie,” Comrie said. After years of depression and substance abuse, she was introduced to the Sisters of Life, and through them to other women who, like her, had suffered as the result of abortion.
“I will never forget my son Kaeden. He is why I am silent no more,” Comrie said.
In the crowd of clergy, habited religious sisters, elderly, schoolchildren, and loud teenagers were women who had found themselves, like Comrie, in situations where they felt pressured and alone.
Christa Ranson came to the March for Life from Montreal because she knew what it was to have considered abortion.
Thousands gather to hear opening speeches at the 27th annual National March for Life in Ottawa, Canada, on May 9, 2024. Credit: Peter Stockland
Ranson had been scheduled to undergo an abortion on two separate occasions. The first time she was actually on the table being prepped for the abortion when she decided not to go through with it. The second time, after hearing her son’s heartbeat by ultrasound, Ranson decided she “just couldn’t do it.”
Ranson said she now tells her son: “I loved you when you were just a heartbeat.”
When asked why it was important for her to come to the March for Life, she told Canada’s The Catholic Register that it was to let women know there is a choice other than abortion.
Thousands gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, for the 27th annual National March for Life on May 9, 2024. Credit: Peter Stockland
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that, when you are on that table, those babies are living, they have a heart, they have feelings.”
“I want other women to know that even if it is difficult, it will be okay and it is worth it. If women are making the decision because of health reasons, or financial reasons, they should reach out. There are resources out there, there are doctors out there who will help.”
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