Vatican affirms support for Ukraine with high-profile visits

Archbishop Paul Gallagher’s six-day visit is his second to Ukraine, following his first shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, while Cardinal Matteo Zuppi also visited the Lviv region and Kyiv last week.

Pope Leo prayed for “countries torn apart by war and violence” after Vatican delegates visited Ukraine this week.

“Let us not forget those who are suffering and dying because of these conflicts, and let us add our constant prayers to the generous efforts for peace,” the Pope said on Sunday, speaking after the Angelus in the main square of Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome.

The previous day, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states Archbishop Paul Gallagher had visited bomb sites in Kyiv. Earlier in the week, the Archbishop of Bologna Cardinal Matteo Zuppi had made a four-day visit to Ukraine in his role as papal peace envoy.

Archbishop Gallagher met parishioners at St Nicholas Church in Kyiv, which suffered a Russian missile strike in December 2024 that shattered its windows and caused severe damage to the interior. He said the community demonstrates “the virtue of perseverance”.

“Perseverance is also a defining characteristic of our Catholic community. You have remained steadfast as a Eucharistic and prayerful community, and I can already see the fruits of that perseverance,” he said, emphasising Pope Leo’s support for them.

“There is not a single day when he does not pray for Ukraine and for you, men and women of faith,” the archbishop continued. He voiced hope that the Pope would visit Kyiv “one day”.

Gallagher later met members of the local authorities and emergency services at an apartment block destroyed by a Russian strike on 14 May which killed 24 people, including three children. Officials said that since June this year strikes have killed at least 300 people across Ukraine and injured thousands more.

The archbishop also visited the St Thomas Aquinas Dominican Institute of Theology, which suffered shrapnel damage from nearby drone and missile strikes in May, and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the ancient monastery complex struck in a Russian attack last month.

The visit officially marks 35 years since the restoration of the structures of the Latin-rite Church in Ukraine shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and 25 years since the apostolic visit of John Paul II.

Archbishop Gallagher arrived in the country on Thursday, travelling by road from Poland, and was received at the Krakovets border crossing by members of Ukraine’s foreign ministry.

At a meeting the next day with local authorities at the curia of the Archdiocese of Lviv – the largest Roman Catholic diocese in Ukraine – Gallagher said the Church and the Pope “have not forgotten the suffering of the Ukrainian people and their sacrifices”.

“A just end to the war means restoring peace to this part of Europe,” he said. “We must create the right conditions for a just peace.”

On Sunday, the archbishop celebrated Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Scapular in Berdychiv, alongside members of the Latin-rite hierarchy and the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

“We ask the Lord God to truly heed the prayer of the Universal Catholic Church and put an end to this unjust war,” said Shevchuk in an address after the Mass. “We know that Vatican diplomacy is God’s work, because the Holy See, in particular Pope Leo XIV, is today a great herald of authentic peace.”

The six-day visit is Gallagher’s second to Ukraine, following his first shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Earlier this week, Cardinal Zuppi also visited the Lviv region and Kyiv. He previously travelled to the country in June 2023, when Pope Francis appointed him as his peace envoy, and has since worked to facilitate prisoner exchanges.

After his arrival on Monday, Zuppi met prisoners of war held in the Zakhid-1 detention centre near Lviv and told them Pope Leo “is praying for you, that the war may end and that you may return home”. The prisoners, captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting with the Russian army, come from more than 50 countries.

The cardinal distributed gifts sent by Pope Leo to the prisoners, including prayer cards and keychains.

“The Pope asked me to bring you a keychain. I hope that soon you’ll put your house key on it,” he said. “We want to tell you today to look to the future with hope – that you will return home, that the war will end. And we pray fervently that it will end soon.”

On Wednesday, Cardinal Zuppi offered a prayer during a ceremony in Kyiv for Ukrainian Statehood Day, marked on the same day as the commemoration of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus’ by Prince Volodymyr the Great in 988.

“Grant a just peace. May prisoners return home, may children embrace their families once again, may the missing be found, and may everyone be able to mourn over the body of their loved one who has fallen. Inspire in each one of us the courage and wisdom to become builders of peace,” Zuppi said.

During the ceremony in St Michael’s Square, the cardinal took part in a wreath-laying ceremony alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, placing a bouquet of red roses before the Wall of Remembrance commemorating those killed in the war with Russia.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the Holy See Andrii Yurash called this an “exceptional gesture of respect toward Ukraine, acknowledging its statehood tradition, which dates back more than 1,000 years, as well as its ongoing struggle for independence in the war against the Russian aggressor”.

Later that day, Zuppi met Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha for further discussion of prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of detained civilians and children.

According to Vatican News, Ukrainian officials also requested the Holy See’s support for an “all-for-all” exchange involving around 7,000 Ukrainian prisoners held in Russia and roughly 4,000 Russian prisoners in Ukraine.

“Even one soldier, one civilian or one child reunited with their family is a step towards peace,” Zuppi said. “Every possible effort will be made. This is the will of Leo XIV. Humanitarian commitment must stand above political or military considerations.”

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