The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church invited the Pope to visit Ukraine

During his visit to the Vatican, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, called on Pope Leo XIV to visit Ukraine in the near future. Shevchuk stated that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is being persecuted and that communication with the head of the Vatican has been “paid for with martyr’s blood.” Shevchuk wrote about this on his Facebook account.

«Today’s audience of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC with Pope Leo XIV was a vivid testimony that all our synodal activities are taking place in full and visible unity with the Bishop of Rome. Usually, we express this in writing — in a letter of communion. But today it took place in a living form — through meeting, communication, and prayer. For this communion, we, as a Church, paid a high price — with the blood of our martyrs. And we still suffer persecution. But it is precisely because we were able to lean on the rock of Peter that we have endured — as a Church, as a people — through all the historical storms, especially in the 20th century. At the end of the meeting, I invited His Holiness Leo XIV to visit Ukraine. We pray for him every day and were very happy to hear that the Holy Father also prays daily for Ukraine and our suffering people,» — wrote the head of the UGCC.

It should be noted that more than half of Ukrainian citizens believe that Pope Leo XIV could play an important role in peace negotiations with Russia. This is evidenced by the results of a poll conducted by the SOCIS sociological company in early June 2025.