Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler will join Pope Francis and other Catholic bishops around the world in consecrating Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, March 25, 2022.

The Mass, celebrated for the Solemnity of the Annunciation, will begin at 6 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler.

“Our hearts are heavy with the violence we see unfolding in Eastern Europe and in too many other places in the world, but our greatest strength is to live in the light of Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Strickland. “The Immaculate Virgin Mary guides each of us with her motherly care toward the light of her Son. Let us humbly seek his light and trust that true and lasting peace in our hearts and in our world flows from his light.”

For the consecration, Pope Francis will be leading the prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, and he has sent Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, to lead a similar act of consecration at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.

For more about the consecration, visit: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-03/pope-invites-bishops-to-join-him-in-consecration-of-russia.html