Prince Charles and Camilla visit cathedral in show of support for Ukraine

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, paid a visit to a cathedral in London on Wednesday to show their support for Ukraine as Russia escalates its war in the country. 

The Duchess was moved to tears during the emotional visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in central London. 

She and Prince Charles met school children and other members of London's Ukrainian community as well as people involved in the humanitarian response.

They listened to a choir of mothers and children singing in Ukrainian before they lit candles and laid sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, at the altar.

The Duchess hugged the visibly upset wife of Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko, telling her, "We are praying for you."

The royal couple were welcomed to the church by the Right Rev Kenneth Nowakowski, the Bishop for Ukrainian, Belarusian and Slovak Eastern Catholics. 

The Prince said he and his wife had been "deeply moved" by the visit, and assured those assembled of their prayers. 

"Thank you so much for welcoming us to this very special cathedral," he said. 

"I must say my wife and I have been deeply moved by everything we have heard today during our visit and above all by the extraordinary bravery, generosity and fortitude of the Ukrainian community in the face of such truly terrible aggression.

"So if I may say so, our thoughts and prayers, however inadequate they may be, are with all of you at this most critical time."

It is the second time in recent days that the Prince has condemned the invasion after speaking out against it at a ceremony this week to grant Southend city status.

News
Violence and persecution driving global Christian exodus, report warns
Violence and persecution driving global Christian exodus, report warns

Aid to the Church in Need, which produced the report, called the oppression of Christians "a human rights catastrophe the world refuses to acknowledge".

More than 60 killed in attacks on Ethiopian Christians, Orthodox Church says
More than 60 killed in attacks on Ethiopian Christians, Orthodox Church says

Children were reportedly among the dead as families fled violence in Oromia.

Church mentioned in St Jerome's letters may have been discovered
Church mentioned in St Jerome's letters may have been discovered

Archaeologists in northern Italy have identified the likely site of an early Christian church that St. Jerome described in a letter in A.D. 396, along with a nearby building believed to have been the bishop’s palace in the ancient city of Altino.

Jordan carries out retaliatory strikes in Syria after deadly church attack
Jordan carries out retaliatory strikes in Syria after deadly church attack

Patriarch Theophilos III has visited survivors of the attack in hospital.