Pope welcomes Ukrainian President Zelensky to the Vatican for the third time

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

As the war in Ukraine continues to claim countless lives, Pope Francis met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the third time at the Vatican.

According to the Holy See Press Office, Pope Francis spoke to President Zelensky about the suffering of Ukrainian children, emphasizing that many of them have lost the ability to smile.

The 35-minute meeting took place on Friday morning at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. It is their fourth meeting after a bilateral meeting on June 14 on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the Italian region of Puglia and after meetings in the Vatican on May 13, 2023 and before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 8, 2020.

Call for peace and appeal to end the suffering

According to another statement from the Press Office of the Holy See, the discussions at the State Secretariat “focused on the state of the war and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine” as well as “the possibilities to end it.” This will lead to a just and stable peace in the country .”

In addition, the statement said that “a number of issues related to religious life in the country were also examined.”

The President of Ukraine then met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

Regardless, Pope Francis said in a post on hate only brings death and destruction for everyone.

Exchange of gifts

As usual, the two heads of state exchanged gifts and the Pope exchanged greetings with the delegation accompanying President Zelensky. The Ukrainian president gave Pope Francis an oil painting titled “The Bucha Massacre. The Story of Marichka”.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis gave President Zelensky a bronze cast of a flower with the inscription “Peace is a fragile flower.”

The Pope also presented this year’s Peace Message, several papal documents and the book to the President on March 27, 2020 Station Orbispublished by the Vatican Publishing House, as well as the volume “Persecuted for the Truth, Ukrainian Greek Catholics Behind the Iron Curtain”.

Constant proximity to Ukraine

Pope Francis has made countless calls to end the war and suffering since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine and offered the Holy See’s willingness to assist in any way in the work for peace.

The Holy Father has also sent delegates and envoys to deliver ambulances, medical supplies and relief supplies to the suffering country.