Father Andrii Stebivka, a priest of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, was forcibly detained by recruitment officers and taken to a military training camp from where he could potentially be sent to the front lines of the war with Russia, his family stated.
The incident took place on Oct. 12 at a checkpoint in the Rivne region of northwestern Ukraine. The 38-year-old priest, who was ordained two years ago, was returning from participating in a spiritual retreat, according to his parents, Bohdan and Natalia Stebivka.
Stebivka was recently transferred to a different parish, but administrative delays inherent in this change of pastoral assignment created a temporary gap in the state registry that formally certifies the pastoral work and ministerial service of priests in Ukraine.
Despite repeated efforts to provide proof of his active clergy status and ongoing pastoral service to the faithful, recruitment authorities rejected his documentation and sent him to a military training center. According to his family, he has already been assigned to a special assault unit and is expected to enter combat in the near future.
The bishop of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Teodor Matsapula, and the apostolic nunciature in Ukraine are taking formal steps with government authorities to clarify the priest’s status and secure his reinstatement to his parish duties. So far, these requests have gone unanswered.
Stebivka, who was ordained a priest in June 2024 at the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, is also noted for his artistic work as an iconographer.
Throughout his ministry, he has created sacred compositions and apse murals in churches in Dublin, Boston, and various Ukrainian cities, such as Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Uzhhorod.
Faced with the imminent risk of being sent to the battlefield, the priest’s parents have made a public appeal to civil, military, and diplomatic authorities, requesting that the pastoral nature of his vocation be recognized and that he be permitted to continue carrying out his priestly ministry in Mukachevo.
More: https://t.co/h6EFYbnNnF
In light of Pope Leo's lung cancer diagnosis following his procedure this afternoon, join us in praying through the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel for the swift and total recovery of our Holy Father with this prayer written by Pope Pius XII.
Our Lady of Good Counsel, pray for us. St. Peregrine, pray for us.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was Immaculately Conceived and the only human to be born free from Original Sin. She remained a virgin her entire life. She was 100% sinless during her life. She is the new ark of the covenant. She was taken up body and soul into Heaven. She is the Queen of Heaven & Earth with the highest place in Heaven above all the Angels & Saints. She is our intercessor, our advocate in Heaven to the King. Ave María 🌹
The truth of the Catholic Church does not depend on human approval, but on the fact that it was founded by JESUS CHRIST.
The Catholic Church is beautiful and true🙏🏻
@KristanHawkins There are no Dogmatic statements so you are free to hold an opinion one way or another. As a fellow Catholic please don’t assume people are in sin they don’t hold the same convictions as you
God Bless
Pax Cristi 🙏🙏🙏
VATICAN CITY — More than 700 children from schools and parishes in Rome joined Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican Gardens on Thursday to pray the rosary for peace in the world.
The Oct. 1 event marked the beginning of a week of prayer for the initiative “One Million Children Praying the Rosary,” promoted by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
The Holy Father greeted the children at the beginning. He thanked them and encouraged them to be good at home, in their families, at school, in catechism classes, and in sports, because peace also grows in this way.
“I am truly happy to be with you! And you, children, tell me: Are you happy to have come? Good, that makes me happy too. Above all, because this evening we have gathered together to be with the two people who love us more than anyone else. Who are they? The Lord Jesus and his mother, Mary, who never leave us alone and who are always close to us,” Pope Leo said in his address before the rosary.
“We love them too, don’t we?” he added. “Shall we tell them? Let’s try. Let us repeat together: ‘I love you, Jesus. I love you, Mary.’ Yes, we love you, Jesus and Mary, and this evening we ask you for a special gift: peace for all the children of the world, especially those who live where there is war, in so many countries across the earth.”
“We do this through the prayer of the holy rosary, which is a simple prayer that everyone can pray,” the pope affectionately emphasized to the children.
He noted that “in a little while we will light candles, and we will reflect on Jesus in some important moments of his life … These are moments in which he gave us wonderful gifts that we must never forget, and for this we want to thank him.
Calling on the children to repeat with him, he said: “Let us do that together as well, once again. Let us all say: ‘Thank you, Jesus!’ And let us ask him with confidence, all united: ‘Give us peace!’”
For the pope, the children’s rosary initiative represents “50 million Hail Marys rising to heaven from every corner of the world and in every language on earth, asking for peace, and joining together like one immense rosary garland, embracing and drawing together all the continents, races, and nations of the planet.”
Upon his arrival for the rosary, the pope also presented a small bouquet of flowers to Our Lady. It was a simple gesture carried out together with a child at the replica grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens.
For the first time this year, the prayer campaign will take place over the course of an entire week, from Oct. 1–7, allowing dioceses, parishes, schools, communities, and families across different continents to participate in the prayer for peace and unity.
Similar initiatives are already being prepared in other countries, such as Bolivia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and many other places marked by war, poverty, or instability.
The 2026 campaign is inspired by the message of Fátima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
The rosary was led by the children through readings, songs, and brief reflections on countries affected by war. The Hail Mary was also recited in several languages.
More: https://t.co/yNczNfCDrm
Prayer of Saint Charles Borromeo to One’s Guardian Angel
My good Guardian Angel, I do not know when and in what manner I will die. It is possible that I will be taken suddenly, or that before my last breath I will find myself deprived of my mental capacities. And there are so many things that I would want to say to God, on the threshold of Eternity… So today, with the full freedom of my will, I come to ask, my Guardian Angel that you speak for me in this dreadful moment. You will say, then, to the Lord:
That I want to die in the Holy Roman Catholic Church, in the bosom of which all the saints died after Jesus Christ, and outside of which there is no salvation;
That I ask for the grace to participate in the infinite merits of my Redeemer, and that I wish to die resting my lips on the Cross that was washed with His Blood;
That I hate and detest my sins that have offended Jesus, and that out of love for Him, I forgive my enemies, as I myself wish to be forgiven;
That I accept my death as God’s will, and that, with all confidence, I surrender myself to His loving and most Sacred Heart, hoping in all His mercy;
That in my inexpressible desire to go to Heaven, I am ready to suffer whatever His sovereign Justice may please to inflict upon me.
That I love Him before all things, above all things and for His own sake; that I wish and hope to love Him with the Elect, His Angels and the Blessed Mother during all eternity.
Do not refuse, oh my Holy Guardian Angel, to be my interpreter with God and to expose before Him that these are my sentiments and my will. Amen.
NO GYM? ABS STILL GETTING CARVED 🔥🧱
4 moves to destroy your entire core at home:
1️⃣ Mountain Climbers - burn that belly fat 🏃♂️💨
2️⃣ Plank Knee Tucks - lower abs on fire 🔥
3️⃣ Plank to Down Dog Crunch - full core shredder 🐍
4️⃣ Plank Hold - build that 6-pack armor ⏱️
No gym circuit. 3 rounds.
20 pushups
30 squats
25 lying leg raises
40 mountain climbers
1-min plank
Rest 60–90s between rounds.
Knees-down pushups still count.
This builds work capacity, not a stage physique overnight.
“After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon the earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved.”
St. Therese of Lisieux 🕊️