President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on May 18, following the pontiff’s inauguration mass, he said in a post on social media.
“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 in bringing this war to an end,” Zelensky said.
“We appreciate the support for Ukraine and the clear voice in defense of a just and lasting peace,” he added.
The visit marked Zelensky’s first in-person meeting with the new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, who was elected head of the Catholic Church on May 8.
During their meeting, Zelensky presented Pope Leo with a special icon, “Mother of God with Child,” painted on a fragment of a box that held heavy artillery. The icon was brought from Izium, a Kharkiv Oblast town located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the front line. A pregnant woman was killed in a Russian missile attack against Izium in February of this year.
The gift represents children “who suffered from the war, who were deliberately kidnapped and deported by Russia and who are very much awaited at home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
The return of Ukraine’s forcibly deported children was among the issues Zelensky and Pope Leo discussed during their first phone call on May 12.
During the inauguration mass, Zelensky was accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska and Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak.
The event drew 250,000 pilgrims and 156 foreign delegations, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who met Pope Francis shortly before his death.
A day before the event, Rubio said that the Vatican could serve as a neutral venue for future peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.
Speaking in Rome before his meeting with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican’s envoy on Ukraine, Rubio noted that “both sides would be comfortable” holding talks there.
On May 11, during his first public address, the pope said he carried the “suffering of the beloved people of Ukraine” in his heart and called for an “authentic and lasting peace.”
Zelensky had his first phone call with Pope Leo XIV on May 12, describing the conversation as “warm” and “substantive.” On May 18, the pontiff received a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia.
Before becoming pope, Leo XIV denounced Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine while serving as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru. In a 2022 interview, he described it as “a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power.”
Pope Leo XIV has met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his inaugural Mass in the Vatican, where he delivered a message of love and unity to a crowd of 200,000 pilgrims.
“We thank the Vatican for its willingness to serve as a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. We are ready for dialogue in any format for the sake of tangible results. We appreciate the support for Ukraine and the clear voice in defense of a just and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy posted on X.
No statement has been issued by the Vatican yet regarding Sunday’s meeting.
Leo, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, was officially installed as the head of the Catholic Church at an outdoor Mass in St Peter’s Square with world leaders and European royalty in attendance.
In his sermon, Leo, the first American pope, called for unity within the church, saying he wanted it to act as a force for peace in the world.
“I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” he said.
“In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest.”
Leo said he was assuming the role as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics “with fear and trembling” and insisted he would not lead like “an autocrat”.
“It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving, as Jesus did,” he said, in an apparent nod to the split between conservative and liberal factions within the church.
‘The rich heritage of the Christian faith’
The 69-year-old pope, who was born in Chicago and spent years as a missionary in Peru, succeeds the late Pope Francis, whose 12-year tenure was marked by tensions with traditionalists within the church. In an apparent nod to conservatives, Leo said he was committed to protecting “the rich heritage of the Christian faith” and repeatedly used the words “unity” and “harmony”.
Before the ceremony, Leo took his first popemobile ride through St Peter’s Square, waving to crowds cheering, “Viva il Papa.”
Dignitaries in attendance included the presidents of Israel, Peru and Nigeria; the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Australia; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; and Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
The United States delegation was led by Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic who had clashed with Francis over the White House’s approach to immigration. Vance shook hands with Zelenskyy at the start of the ceremony, in contrast to the previous meeting between the two men and President Donald Trump in a fiery encounter in front of the world’s media at the White House in February.
Leo prayed for the victims of the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza in his sermon, saying Ukraine was being “martyred” and lamenting that Palestinians were being “reduced to starvation”.
