Pope Leo XIV receives head of UGCC Sviatoslav Shevchuk

On May 15, 2025, Pope Leo XIV received the head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, in the Vatican. The head of the UGCC invited the new pontiff to visit Ukraine. This was reported by Vatican News.

“The Ukrainian people have already characterized you as a pope of peace. Last Sunday we heard you say that the pain of the Ukrainian people is in your heart. Your call for a true, just and lasting peace is especially relevant at this time, and your care for captured and deported children shows your special fatherly attention to the first victims of the war in Ukraine. They are a real spiritual balm for the wounded soul of the Ukrainian people, they keep us in the memory of the international community and give us a name that they want to deprive us of and deny our right to exist,” — Sviatoslav Shevchuk addressed the Pontiff.

The day before, Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin spoke about the first foreign visits to be made by the newly elected Pope Leo XIV. Despite expectations and the global political agenda, the first place of the pontiff’s visit will not be Kyiv, but Nicaea, where Pope Leo will go to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council together with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.