The “solemn Act of Consecration of humanity, and Russia and Ukraine in particular, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary” on March 25 “is meant to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment lifts up to God, through his Mother and ours, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to the violence, and to entrust the future of our human family to the Queen of Peace,” Pope Francis wrote in his letter, dated March 21 and published March 23.

“I ask you to join in this Act by inviting the priests, religious and faithful to assemble in their churches and places of prayer on 25 March, so that God’s Holy People may raise a heartfelt and choral plea to Mary our Mother,” he continued. “I am sending you the text of the prayer of consecration, so that all of us can recite it throughout that day, in fraternal union.”