Ukraine welcomes Pope’s plea for peace at Regina Caeli

Pope Leo spoke to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who invited him to visit Ukraine and thanked him for supporting a just peace.

In his first Regina Caeli address on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV called for ceasefire in Ukraine and Gaza, repeating Pope Francis plea: “Never again war!”

“I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people,” he said. “May everything possible be done to reach an authentic, just and lasting peace, as soon as possible. Let all the prisoners be freed and the children return to their own families.”

The next day he spoke by telephone to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who invited him to visit the country and thanked him for supporting a just peace, as well as for the Vatican’s role in returning abducted children to Ukraine. It followed Zelenskyy’s statement that he would be wiling to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for direct talks this week.

Immediately after the Pope’s election days earlier, Zelenskyy reiterated Kyiv’s appreciation for the “Holy See’s consistent position in upholding international law” and for “condemning the military aggression against Ukraine”.

Putin also congratulated the Pope on his election, hoping that the “constructive dialogue and cooperation established between Russia and the Vatican will continue to develop”.

The apostolic nuncio to Ukraine Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, said the “greatest guarantee” for Pope Leo bringing peace would be the prayer that determined his election.

“The Pope is an American, so I hope that he will find it easier to understand the thoughts of the US President’s administration,” he told The Tablet. “Because, after all, the end of the war in Ukraine and the building of peace – I am not even saying ‘restoration’ because peace has been almost completely destroyed, desecrated – depends a great deal on the position and initiatives of the United States.”

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said Pope Leo would be “a source of hope for Ukraine”.

“We really feel that Pope Leo XIV will be the Pope of peace for the long-suffering, war-torn Ukraine,” he said. “But he expressed himself interestingly about this peace: this peace is without weapons and disarming. That is, it is peace, in particular, for victims of war.”

Shevchuk said the Pope’s vision for peace “will not only inspire us with Christ’s peace, but will help transform this breath of Christ into a renewed doctrine of the Catholic Church on just peace, lasting peace in the modern world”.

A statement from Cardinal Mykola Bychok, a Ukrainian Catholic eparch who voted in the conclave, said the Pope would be a “unifying force, not only for the Catholic Church with all its diverse rites and traditions, but also for a world fragmented by conflict and fear”.

Church and political leaders respond to Pope Leo XIV’s election

Ukraine ‘counting on’ Vatican for support in ceasefire

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: