Pope Leo XIV briefly met today in the Vatican with the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, who stressed later that “the authority and voice of the Holy See can play an important role to end this war.”
Through a message published In the social network X, the Ukrainian president expressed his gratitude to the Pontiff for the meeting: “After the opening mass, we had an encounter with Pope Leo XIV @pontifex. We thank his holiness for the audience.”
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Next, Zelenski stressed the role of moral lighthouse in the world of the new Pontiff as an international reference figure in the search for peace. “For millions of people around the world, the Pontiff is a symbol of hope for peace. The authority and voice of the Holy See can play an important role to end this war,” he said.
During the meeting, as explained by the president of Ukraine himself, he wanted to transfer the disposition of his country to explore new routes of dialogue that allow us Zelenski pointed out in his publication.
He also took the opportunity to thank the constant support of the Holy See: “We appreciate his support for Ukraine and his clear voice in defense of a fair and lasting peace.”
The Vatican press office confirmed the meeting between the two, but did not reveal any details of the dialogue.
On May 15, Pope Leo XIV met in the Vatican with the major kyiv Archbishop and head of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church, Mons. Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who personally delivered a list with the names of Ukrainians who have been arrested by the Russian army to achieve their release through a diplomatic mediation.
“Every time I visit our parishes in different regions of Ukraine,” Shevchuk said to the Pope, “I meet the families of the prisoners of war and the missing. They give me the names of their loved ones with the request to make them personally reach the Pope,” he explained to the Pontiff during the meeting they held in the Vatican, according to a statement of the church. Ukrainian Greco-Catholic.
The Archbishop highlighted the efforts already made by the Vatican to facilitate the return of the Ukrainian children deported and illegally displaced by Russia. “The Holy See is making many efforts in this matter,” he said.
In fact, the mediation of the Holy See for the liberation of Ukrainians arrested by the Russian Army is no novelty. An example is the case of Ukrainian redemptive priests Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Helenta, who were arrested in Berdyonsk by Russian occupation troops in November 2022 and released almost two years later.
Archbishop Shevchuk expressed his confidence that the delivery of this list to the Pope could have concrete consequences: “When the Russian part receives these lists from the Vatican, we will have the proof that the attitude towards these prisoners could even improve.”
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.