Bishop Deeley to Join Pope Francis in Act of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine on March 25 at 11:45 a.m. in Portland; Public Welcome to Attend Event

PORTLAND---Bishop Robert Deeley will join Pope Francis and the other bishops of the world in making an act of consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, March 25, at 11:45 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on 307 Congress Street in Portland. All are welcome to participate in person, and the event will also be livestreamed at www.portlandcatholic.org/livestreamed-liturgies. Maine parishes are also being invited to hold similar times of prayer at the local level.

“The time of prayer will consist in the recitation of the five decades of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Fatima Prayer, the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Angelus prayer,” said Monsignor Marc Caron, moderator of the curia and vicar general for the Diocese of Portland.

The event will be held in the main Cathedral. The weekday 12:15 p.m. Mass will be celebrated in the chapel of the Cathedral.

On Thursday, Pope Francis asked the bishops of the world to join him in making an act of consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in view of the war.

“The purpose of this time of prayer is to ask for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary before God to bring about peace between Russia and Ukraine, and to implore God’s protection upon the millions of innocent men, women, and children whose lives are in danger every day until the conflict ends,” said Monsignor Caron.

Both the Pontifical Mission Societies, which are the pope's charities, and Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, are working to help the Ukrainian people. To visit the giving website to offer support, visit www.portlanddiocese.org/content/support-people-ukraine.