Pope Francis to welcome President Zelensky on October 11

By Salvatore Cernuzio
Pope Francis will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back to the Vatican on October 11, the Holy See Press Office announced.

The meeting, set for Friday morning at 9:00 am will take place in the wake the ‘Dubrovnik Declaration’ agreed on 9 October at the Ukraine South-East Europe Summit in the Croatian coastal city.

It comes four months after their bilateral meeting on June 14 on the sidelines of the G-7 in Puglia region Italy, and over a year and a half after the papal audience in the Paul VI Hall on May 13, 2023.

The audience lasted forty minutes, during which Pope Francis assured his constant prayers for war-ridden Ukraine, which he has never forgotten in his public appeals, and his relentless pleas for peace.

The audience of 13 May 2023

As the Vatican Press Office reported at the time, the Pope and Zelenski "agreed on the need to continue providing humanitarian aid to the population," and Pope Francis highlighted, in particular the need for "gestures of humanity" towards the most vulnerable, the “innocent victims of the conflict” with Russia.

For his part, Zelensky — who that day also had a conversation with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations — in a post on X (formerly Twitter) expressed his gratitude to the Pope for his “his spiritual closeness to our people, and humanitarian aid for Ukrainians.”

The Ukrainian President confirmed that he had discussed the plight of the "tens of thousands of deported Ukrainian children" and the need to pursue “all possible endeavours” to bring them home to their families.

He added that he had asked the Pope to "condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine" and discussed the "Peace formula" as "the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace," suggesting that the Vatican "join in its implementation."

Contacts since the outbreak of the war and the bilateral meeting at G-7

Zelensky first entered the Vatican Apostolic Palace on February 8, 2020, when Europe was just beginning to face the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, and war seemed like a distant threat confined to Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Since the first Russian bombardment of Kyiv, there have been multiple contacts with the Pope, through letters and phone calls, including one on December 28, 2023, for the exchange of Christmas greetings and to reiterate the hope for "a just peace for all of us."

A year and a half after the war broke out , Zelensky resumed traveling and, in May last year, embarked on a tour that took him to various European capitals, including Rome and Vatican City. This year, in June, the Ukrainian President participated at the G7 summit in Borgo Egnazia, Puglia, alongside heads of state and government  and on that occasion, had a private bilateral meeting with the Pope.

Recently, ten Ukrainian prisoners were released by Russian forces, including two fathers of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Heleta.

Cardinal Zuppi’s mission

Since the May 2023 audience, there have been numerous appeals from the Pope, particularly for prisoner exchanges and a peaceful resolution for Ukraine.

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi of Bologna was sent on a mission to "ease tensions in the conflict in Ukraine," with the with the Pope’s unwavering hope that this could lead to peace talks.

Between June and July, the President of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) was sent to Kyiv as the Pope's envoy —where he met Zelensky himself— and then to Moscow, Washington, and Beijing, meeting with political and ecclesiastical leaders.

encourage and to find a way to facilitate the return of children forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia.

As confirmed on several occasions by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, his mission was, in particular, encourage exchanges of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners and to find a way to facilitate the return of children forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia.

The process is slow but has led to concrete results, such as the release of the two Redemptorist priests, Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Heleta, who were arrested in November 2022 and freed by Russia in a exchange of prisoners with Ukraine on June 29.

Zelensky thanked the Holy See for its "efforts" to "bring these people home."

The Meeting with Parolin

Zelensky also expressed his gratitude to Cardinal Parolin during their meeting in July as part of the Secretary of State’s visit to Ukraine, for the celebrations at the Marian Shrine in Berdychiv. Cardinal Parolin stopped in Kyiv and was received by Zelensky, to whom he reiterated "the Pope’s closeness and commitment to finding a just and lasting peace for war-torn Ukraine."

During the meeting, the Ukrainian President awarded the Italian Cardinal the Order of Merit.