“The Pope accepted the invitation to visit Ukraine – the head of the UGCC December 26, 20:58 Share: The Pope delivers the Urbi et Orbi speech, December 25, 2024 (Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi) The Pope accepted the invitation to visit Ukraine, but the date is currently unknown. The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Svyatoslav (Shevchuk) said this in an interview with Radio Liberty on Thursday, December 26. However, in the near future”, — write on: ua.news
The Pope delivers the Urbi et Orbi speech, December 25, 2024 (Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi)
The Pope has accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine, but the date is currently unknown. Svyatoslav, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said this in an interview with Radio Svoboda on Thursday, December 26. (Shevchuk).
However, the Pope does not have any immediate plans to visit Ukraine, in particular, in 2025, added the head of the UGCC.
“Not yet [дати візиту]but Pope Francis sometimes likes to make surprises. He can announce his visit literally a month before he decided to come to Ukraine. So we enter this new year with hope. With the hope that a just peace will prevail in Ukraine after all,” said the head of the UGCC.
On December 10, during a meeting with Svyatoslav, Pope Francis said that he will continue to support Ukraine and will not let the world forget the war started by Russia.
The Pope’s position on Russia’s war against Ukraine
On March 9, in an interview with the Swiss Italian-language TV and radio company RSI, Pope Francis, assessing Ukraine’s position in the war, said that “he who has the courage of the white flag will be stronger” and that “negotiations are courageous.” At the same time, he called for negotiations “before things got worse.”
After the words of Francis caused a wide resonance, the head of the press service of the Vatican, Matteo Bruni, explained that the pope picked up the expression suggested by a journalist in a question about “white flag”.
The then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, in response to the Pope’s words, said that the flag of Ukraine is blue and yellow, and “we will not raise other flags.”
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On March 31, in his Easter message, the Pope called on Russia and Ukraine to exchange prisoners according to the scheme “all to all.” Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ministry of Defense’s GUR, said that he supports this initiative, but noted that Russia must first be convinced to agree to it.
On August 25, Francis expressed concern about the law adopted in Ukraine on the activities of religious organizations controlled from Russia, which, in particular, the activities of the UOC MP. The pontiff then noted: “The church cannot be touched. Let those who want to pray pray.”