President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has invited Pope Leo XIV to his country as the new pontiff called for a lasting peace in Ukraine in his first Sunday address.
In a post on X social media platform on Monday, Zelenskiy said he had spoken to the newly-appointed pontiff, describing their first phone call as “very warm and truly substantive”.
“I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers, to all our people," Zelenskiy wrote. His X post was reposted by Alessandro Gisotti, the Deputy Editorial Director of Vatican Media.
In first Sunday address, speaking to thousands of journalists in the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV urged “genuine, just and lasting peace” in Ukraine. “I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people. Let everything possible be done to achieve genuine, just and lasting peace as soon as possible,” he said.
Leo, the first North American leader of the Roman Catholic church, also called for the end to global conflicts, including that in Gaza. The pope was met with applause from thousands of journalists gathered in the Paul VI hall for his first audience with the media.
Pope Leo’s His predecessor Pope Francis, had repeatedly called for peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict but never visited either country.
