Monitor Magazine April 2022-Special Report Ukraine

Special Report:

UKRAINE

April 2022

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Pope consecrates

Pope Francis venerates a Marian statue before consecrating the world and, in particular, Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 25, 2022. CNS photo/Paul Haring

PRAYER of CONSECRATION for UKRAINE, RUSSIA VATICAN CITY CNS • Here is the Vatican text of the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, sent by the Vatican to bishops throughout the world. Pope Francis invited bishops and the rest of the world to join him when he recited the prayer March 25 in St. Peter’s Basilica.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Basilica of St. Peter • March 25, 2022 Mary, Mother of God and our mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our mother, you love us and know us: No concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the prince of peace.

Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns.

We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons.

We stopped being our neighbor’s keepers and stewards of our common

O

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home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war, and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves.

Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!

Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.

We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.

That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and

Special Report: Ukraine

Ukraine, Russia to Mary

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES  Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY • As Russia’s violent monthlong invasion continued to devastate Ukraine, Pope Francis laid the fates of both countries at the feet of Mary in the hopes that peace would finally reign.

“Mother of God and our mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine,” the Pope said March 25, pronouncing the Act of Consecration after leading a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Praying before a statue of Mary that was loaned by the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima at San Vittoriano on the outskirts of Rome, the Pope pleaded with Mary to “accept this act that we carry

out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end, and peace spread throughout the world.”

Sitting in front of the statue, which was placed before the steps of the main altar on a red platform and adorned with white roses, the Pope proclaimed the act of consecration. During the prayer, the Pope paused at several moments to gaze at the statue of Mary before continuing to recite the prayer.

“To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world,” he prayed.

After the consecration, the Pope, accompanied by a young boy and girl, placed a bouquet of white roses at the feet of the statue. He then remained for a few moments, with eyes closed and head bowed in silent prayer, before stepping away.

According to the Vatican, an estimat-

squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!

Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.

Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.

Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.

Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.

Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.

Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.

Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.

Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.

Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.

O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs.

May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your sorrowful heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.

Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26). In this way, he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (Jn 19:27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our

ed 3,500 people filled St. Peter’s Basilica, while 2,000 people watched on video screens from St. Peter’s Square. Police asked pilgrims who entered St. Peter’s Basilica carrying or wearing Ukrainian flags to put them away, since the event was a prayer service.

Among those present at the liturgy were Andrii Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See. The consecration, he tweeted March 25, is “another attempt (by the Pope) to defend Ukraine from the devil’s war,” referring to Russia’s attacks on the country.

Joe Donnelly, who soon will present his credentials to the Pope as the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, also attended the service.

The Vatican announced March 18 that Pope Francis also asked bishops around the world to join him in Continued on 28

lives and our history.

At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.

Therefore, Mother of God and our mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The “fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “fiat,” on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our “living fountain of hope,” water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.

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Special Report: Ukraine Faithful pray intently during the Mass with Bishop O’Connell. Mike Ehrmann photos

Bishop leads Diocese in worldwide consecration of humanity to Blessed Mother FROM STAFF REPORTS

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n the day that the Church commemorates the Virgin Mary’s acceptance of her role in bringing the Son of God into the world, the Diocese of Trenton joined the global Catholic community in consecrating all of humanity to her Immaculate Heart, especially the peoples of Ukraine and Russia.

Hundreds of people gathered in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in Trenton, where Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., celebrated a Mass March 25 on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, which was livestreamed in English and Spanish. The Bishop began the Mass with the Act of Consecration, which was also being recited in Rome by Pope Francis, and by bishops and priests around the world.

Those attending the Cathedral Mass could be seen responding in solemn and emotional prayer with heads bent, hands clasped and anguished, tearful faces.

Thousands more of the Diocese’s faithful took part via livestream or in their parishes and schools.

The Act of Consecration that originated with the Holy Father acknowledges the sins of a world that had “strayed from (the) path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.”

The prayer continues: “We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbor’s keepers and stewards of our

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common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war, and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!”

In his homily, Bishop O’Connell reflected on the profound role that the Blessed Mother served in the history of humanity and her ability to put us in direct, personal contact with her Son. “ ‘I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.’ On this feast we are called by her innocence, humility, courage, obedience and example to make her words our own,” Bishop O’Connell said.

He concluded, “In our troubled world at this very moment, unsettled by the outrage, carnage and destruction of the current war in Ukraine, we turn to Mary once more – as we have done so often throughout the history of the Church – and place within her Immaculate Heart, in a profound act of consecration, Russia and Ukraine, as we pray for peace there.

“O Immaculate Heart of Mary, lead us to the heart of your Son; Our Lady Queen of Peace, O Mary Undoer of Knots, pray for us!”

Mass-goers became emotional as they reflected on the Mass with Bishop O’Connell, and they all agreed that if there’s anyone who could help bring about peace in war-torn Ukraine, it’s the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“This brings me to tears,” said Marlene Lao-Collins, referring to “And let it begin with me,” the last line in the closing hymn, “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

“Today is a wonderful opportunity to pray with Catholics from all over the world and throughout our Diocese and

ask for the Blessed Mother’s intercession,” said Lao-Collins, executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton.

“Today we go to the Blessed Mother and join our prayers and cry out to her. This is a powerful moment for all of us to be together in the hope of bringing about peace.”

Sister Jacinta Miryam Hanley, a member of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart, and native of Corpus Christi Parish, Willingboro, spoke of the joy and privilege it was for her to attend the Mass and witness the consecration.

It’s her hope, she said, that the consecration will bring about “an era of peace.”

The video stream of the Mass celebrated

by Bishop O’Connell remains available at: youtube.com/trentondiocese.

Standing at the ambo, Bishop O’Connell preaches his homily on the significance of the Solemnity of the Annunciation.

Special Report: Ukraine

Having ‘right relationship’ with God is key, Bishop emphasizes at Mass for Peace

BY MARY STADNYK  Associate Editor

D

uring the March 31 Mass for Peace he celebrated for the intentions of the people in war-torn Ukraine, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., honed in on the trick that’s needed to bring about a peaceful solution of any kind.

“To be at peace means for people to be in a right relationship with the Creator,” Bishop O’Connell said to the congregation gathered in St. Joseph Church, Keyport, and those who viewed the Mass that was livestreamed on the diocesan YouTube channel.

“That is our ‘right relationship’ and that ‘right relationship’ with God influences the way we should treat one another in this world as God’s children. It establishes and, in a sense, is both the sign and guarantee of our ‘right relationship’ with one another, a sign and guarantee of peace.”

The Mass for Peace was the second event held in the Diocese where faithful had an opportunity to join Bishop O’Connell and prayerfully remember the people in Ukraine. On March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the Bishop celebrated a Mass in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, during which he joined the Holy Father and bishops and priests from around the world to consecrate the people of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“Since prayer is one of the most powerful ways in which we can help Ukraine and her people, I decided to share the idea with Bishop about hosting a Mass for peace to which the Bishop immediately proposed a date and time for this

Bishop O’Connell was joined by several priest concelebrants. Bishop O’Connell kisses the Ukrainian flag that was held during the Mass by three representatives from the Ukrainian community.

Joe Moore photos

To view expanded story coverage and photo gallery from the Mass for Peace, visit TrentonMonitor.com Mass,” said Father Rene Pulgarin, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Keyport, of which St. Joseph Church is a part.

“The Bishop, as the shepherd of this Diocese, decided to unite the Diocese and all of our people in prayer for peace during the war, and he did so by leading us into this spiritual and touching celebration of the Eucharist, as we all lifted our prayers and petitions to our heavenly Father and to our Lady, the Queen of Peace,” said Father Pulgarin. He also expressed encouragement when seeing people from other area parishes in attendance as well as representatives from the Ukrainian community “who held onto their Ukrainian flag during the entire Mass as a sign of supplication to God

and as a petition for the gift of peace.”

Pointing to the toll that Russia’s attack on its peaceful neighbor has had, Bishop O’Connell said, “Atrocities and destruction, carnage and death, separation of families and displacement from homes – these are realities that are all too familiar throughout the ages. Once again, lessons have gone unlearned.”

Though they face the devastation and terror brought by the war, Bishop O’Connell urged the faithful to take Jesus’ words to heart: “Peace, I leave you.

Peace is my gift to you but not as the world gives. So do not let your heart be troubled or afraid.”

To view the video from the Mass for Peace, go to YouTube.com/trentondiocese.

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Special Report: Ukraine

To view more photos, visit TrentonMonitor.com>Multimedia>Photo Galleries

Ukraine prayerfully remembered by Trenton’s Polish faithful The parish community of St. Hedwig, Trenton, remembered the people of war-torn Ukraine in a special way. Along with taking up a special collection for Ukraine the weekend of March 12-13, the parish also hosted a five-day prayer experience from March 9-13 during which parishioners were invited to pray before a painted image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, patron of Poland. The image was brought to St. Hed-

that the former Pope would join in the consecration from his residence.

In a video released before the liturgy, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, said he would join in the consecration “because today we need very much the victory of good.”

The consecration, Archbishop Shevchuk said, “means that it is never possible to make a deal, to cooperate with this evil that emerges from Russia today.”

“And that is why we must pray for its conversion, for the eradication of that evil, ‘so that it,’ as the Mother of God of Fatima said, ‘might not destroy other states, might not cause yet another world war.’ We, as Christians, have a duty to pray for our enemies,” he said.

In Rome, the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out after Pope Francis concluded the Act of Consecration.

PAPAL CONSECRATION TO MARY Continued from 25

consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, led a similar act of consecration at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.

Bishops from around the world had announced special services to coincide with the timing of the consecration in Rome, even in the early hours of the morning.

At the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagatña, Guam, Archbishop Michael Byrnes led the faithful in praying the Rosary before reciting the Act of Consecration at 2 a.m. local time March 26.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary of retired Pope Benedict XVI, had told reporters 28 THE MONITOR MAGAZINE

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wig by Father Karol Jarzabek, a Pauline priest and pastor of St. Stanislaus Church in Manhattan, the oldest Polish parish in New York. On the last day of the image’s visit, Father Jacek Labinski, pastor of St. Hedwig Parish, led a special blessing of the image following the Mass he celebrated on March 13. Parishioners also joined in reciting “A Gift of Peace” prayer written by Pope John Paul II. John Batkowski photos

In his homily during the Lenten penance service, the Pope acknowledged that the war in Ukraine, which “has overtaken so many people and caused suffering to all, has made each of us fearful and anxious.”

While calls to “not be afraid” may soothe one’s helplessness in the face of war, violence and uncertainty, the Pope said that “human reassurance is not enough.”

“We need the closeness of God and the certainty of his forgiveness, and once renewed by it, Christians can also turn to Mary and present their needs and the needs of the world,” he said.

Pope Francis said the Act of Consecration was “no magic formula but a spiritual act” of trust by “children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their mother, reposing all their fears and

pain in her heart and abandoning themselves to her.”

“It means placing in that pure and undefiled heart, where God is mirrored, the inestimable goods of fraternity and peace, all that we have and are, so that she, the mother whom the Lord has given us, may protect us and watch over us,” the Pope said.

In his prayer, Pope Francis specifically asked Mary to be with those suffering directly because of the war.

“May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs,” he prayed to Mary. “May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land.

May your sorrowful heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.”

Courtesy photo

HEROes of faith

The HERO (Holy Eucharist Reaching Out) Youth Ministry group along with parishioners from Holy Eucharist Parish, Tabernacle, visited St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, Cherry Hill, March 9. The group led by Jeff Siedlecki, youth minister, met with Father Evhen Moniuk, pastor, who spoke to the teens, prayed the Rosary with them and gave them a blessing.

“Father Evhen was struggling to hold back the tears as he

spoke,” Siedlecki said of the meeting.

Stephanie José, 17, was among the parishioners who traveled to St. Michael’s and shared how she felt during her visit.

“It was an overwhelming experience to hear [Father Evhen] speak about the Ukrainian people. These are real people who are hurting. And even though it is overwhelming and scary, we also felt hopeful and powerful when we prayed the Rosary. We felt unified with the Ukrainian people through our prayers.”

One in 10 Ukrainians is a refugee, half are children, U.N. agencies say

BY CAROL GLATZ  Catholic News Service ROME • More than 4 million people have fled Ukraine in the past five weeks, and half of them are children, said two U.N. agencies.

“Children make up half of all refugees from the war in Ukraine,” UNICEF said March 30 in a media release that included data from UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency.

UNICEF estimated that 2 million children have fled the war in Ukraine in search of safety across borders, and an additional 2.5 million children are displaced within the country.

That means about 60% of all children have been forced from their homes since the conflict started Feb. 24, it said.

The UNHCR reported March 23 that 6.5 million people have been displaced internally within Ukraine and over 12 million more have been affected in the areas hardest hit by the war. “Humanitarian needs are increasing exponentially,” it said.

With the latest figures, nearly 10% of the 44 million people who lived in Ukraine before the conflict have become refugees, according to the UNHCR estimates as of March 30. Those figures could be higher, it added.

“The situation inside Ukraine is spiraling,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF.

Source: World Population Review I © 2022 Catholic News Service

“As the number of children fleeing their homes continues to climb, we must remember that every single one of them needs protection, education, safety and support,” she said in a March 30 statement.

Poland has taken in the majority of refugees – 2.3 million, according to the U.N., and more than 1.1 million of them are children, with hundreds of thousands also arriving in Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, it said.

Rafal Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw, has appealed for help from other nations. There are some 300,000 refugees just in the capital, which is struggling to provide needed services, he said.

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Viewpoints

The things they carry in Ukraine

L

ike many people, I have spent the past few weeks watching and reading the news out of Ukraine. Images of desperate refugees fleeing home, of men pressed into service, of mass graves are now firmly lodged in my mind.

I had to turn the television off one afternoon after watching a young man say goodbye to his wife and children, only later to turn it on again to see someone else’s children being treated for life-altering injuries in a hospital.

“I watched my mother die,” a battered girl said to the camera.

It is hard to know what to say in the face of such devastation. When I asked my uncle, a Vietnam War veteran, how he was doing with the news, he quietly but firmly said to me, “All war is senseless.”

His remarks prompted me to revisit “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien’s 1990 fictional masterpiece on the Vietnam War. The first chapter is to my mind one of the greatest openings to a book ever written. O’Brien introduces his servicemen by detailing the things that they carry – what they brought with them overseas, what weapons and supplies they were required to have based on their rank and mission, what good luck charms they placed in their pockets for their own safekeeping.

With each long, detailed list, the absurdity of war becomes clearer.

Interwoven with these material items O’Brien chronicles are immaterial things the men carried with them: “For the most part, they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity.”

“They carried the land itself – Vietnam, the palace, the soil – a powdery orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatigues and faces.”

“They carried all of the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing – these were the intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.”

As the war in Ukraine presses on, I have been thinking about this last line in

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A woman holds a child next to a destroyed bridge during evacuation March 28 from Irpin, Ukraine, as Russia continues its attack on the country. This month’s Viewpoints author reflects on the question of what those in Ukraine are carrying in their arms and in their hearts as they deal with war’s devastating toll. CNS photo/Oleksandr Ratushniak, Reuters GUEST COMMENTARY Elise Italiano Ureneck Catholic News Service

particular.

It is of course important to take stock of what refugees carry with them – food that they can find in stores, suitcases filled with essential clothing and a few mementos, memories of a life they are leaving behind.

It is important that reporters tell us what civilians who are staying behind have to carry, including food, clothing, blankets and supplies for Molotov cocktails. It is important to contemplate what the conscripted and volunteer soldiers (on both sides of the conflict) now hold in their hands and have to learn to use.

And it is of the utmost importance to consider what the elected leaders of Ukraine carry in their hearts as they stay to defend their country alongside their countrymen: the knowledge and love of freedom.

But the cold, hard reality is that

April 2022

Ukrainians now all carry the “baggage of men (and women) who might die.” They are, by and large, all faced with the ultimate questions: of what really matters, what might be more important than their own lives and what comes after we or our loved ones are gone.

It is a worthy consideration for all of us, especially during Lent.

While the gruesome reality of war might make us want to turn away, this liturgical season puts blood, pain and carnage squarely in front of us. We are encouraged to meditate upon what Jesus carried – the instrument of his own torture, the psychological torment of knowing he was to die, the crushing weight of the sins of the whole world.

“They shared the weight of memory,” O’Brien writes. “They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak.”

Perhaps this can be our prayer this Lent as war rages on. Jesus, carry us.

Jesus, carry them.

Elise Italiano Ureneck is a communications consultant and a columnist for Catholic News Service.

World & Nation

Government to lift health measure that blocks entrance of asylum-seekers

BY RHINA GUIDOS  Catholic News Service WASHINGTON • News reports say the Biden administration may lift a public health measure in May that was put in place at the start of the coronavirus pandemic that has kept asylum-seekers out.

Catholic groups that support immigrants have long been calling for an end to Title 42 of the Public Health Safety Act, which the Trump administration began using in March 2020 as infections of the coronavirus began to surge in the U.S. Border Patrol agents were instructed to expel anyone caught trying to illegally enter the U.S. instead of processing them under existing immigration law for those seeking asylum.

Several news agencies report that Biden administration officials are signaling the end of Title 42 by May 23 though nothing has been announced.

The Biden administration has taken heat from Catholic groups, among others, for keeping Title 42 in place. Administration officials have said it was not immigration policy but a health measure and that the government would take cues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on when to end it.

Many are expecting an increase in migrants looking for asylum at the southern border when the measure is lifted.

On March 22, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,

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Meanwhile, Italians in the northern Lombardy region, with the help of a major trade fair management company in Milan, have sent seven tractor-trailers loaded with the

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first of a total of 100 tons of food and supplies to the Ptak Warsaw Expo center, LombardiaNotizie.online said March 30.

The expo center is the largest congress center in Central and Eastern Europe, and it has been repurposed into a humanitarian aid

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R-Ky., said there would be an “utter meltdown” if Title 42 were lifted.

The order, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection says on its website, prohibits “the entry of certain persons who potentially pose a health risk, either by virtue of being subject to previously announced travel restrictions or because they unlawfully entered the country to bypass health screening measures.”

Some like Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., known as CLINIC, have attacked Title 42 since its implementation, calling it a shameful and racist action designed to keep migrants out.  “We will “While we watch much of the nation remove their masks at not stay the public health guidance of this silent in the administration, we simultaneously watch the same administration face of such continue to expel vulnerable people back to harm for the supposed hypocrisy.” protection of public health. We will not stay silent in the face of such hypocrisy,” she said in a March 21 news release from CLINIC. Women religious and their supporters protested outside the White House in December urging Title 42’s demise.

shelter for refugees. Up to 10,000 people a day come through the center on their way to other destinations in Europe, the news outlet said.

HELP FROM U.S. The Biden administration said March 24 that the United States plans to welcome up to 100,000

Ukrainians as refugees. This was announced while President Joe Biden joined European leaders for a high-stakes NATO meeting in Brussels, where he pledged during a news conference that the U.S. will provide $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Ukrainians.

“While we expect many Ukrainians will choose to remain in Europe close to family and their homes in Ukraine, today, the United States is announcing plans to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians and others fleeing Russia’s aggression,” the White House said in a statement posted online.

The statement said potential refugees could enter “through the full range of legal pathways, including the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program,” but it also said the Biden administration is “working to expand and develop new programs with a focus on welcoming Ukrainians who have family members in the United States.”