Ukrainian clerics seek Pope’s visit

Members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religions speak at a news conference at the Vatican Jan. 26, 2023. From the right: Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv; Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church; Bishop Marcos Hovhannisyan of the Ukrainian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church; Valerii Antoniuk, head of the All-Ukrainian Union of the Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists; and a translator. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan)

 

Ukraine’s religious leaders, led by the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv, has urged Vatican head, Pope Francis, to visit Kyiv, in Ukraine.

According to National Catholic Reporter, during a meeting with the Pope on January 25, members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religions extended the invitation once more.

Shevchuk had stated that they had not received a clear response regarding the potential of a visit by the papacy.

“We know that the Holy Father is following the developments in Ukraine and is looking for the right moment to come,” he told journalists at the Vatican Jan. 26.

“We wanted to show him that not only Catholics are waiting for him (to come). All Ukrainians are waiting for him.” he added.