Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Pope Leo XIV

On July 9, 2025, Pope Leo XIV received Volodymyr Zelensky, who is currently visiting Rome, in a private audience at the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. Zelensky stated that he wants peace and asked the head of the Vatican to influence the Russian side in this matter. This was reported by Vatican News.

«First of all, I am very grateful to His Holiness for this meeting, for welcoming us, and, of course, for his help. We want peace, we want an end to this war, and we are counting on the Vatican and His Holiness to help us find a place for a high-level meeting that will end this war,» — Zelensky said during a briefing.

We recently reported that representatives of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and the House of Organ Music held a meeting with members of the Roman Catholic community in Kyiv, during which the Roman Catholic Church was informed of the impossibility of implementing the court decision on the transfer of the St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv to the ownership of a religious organization. The Ministry of Culture considers the court’s decision to transfer the church to the ownership of the religious community to be illegal.