Vatican News video screengrab / YouTube
CV NEWS FEED // In a subtle yet meaningful gesture of solidarity, Pope Leo XIV welcomed Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church at the Vatican May 15. The encounter, marked by prayer and empathy, underscored the Church’s spiritual closeness to a nation suffering from war.
According to Vatican News, Archbishop Shevchuk expressed heartfelt gratitude for the Pope’s recent appeal during the May 11 Regina Caeli, where the Holy Father called for “an authentic, just, and lasting peace” in Ukraine and the release of captives, including children taken from their homes by force.
The Pope’s words, the Greek Catholic secretariat later said in a statement, were a “spiritual balm” for Ukraine’s wounded soul.
In a symbolic offering, the archbishop presented Pope Leo with a painting titled Requiem Prayer by artist Bohdan Pylypiv that captures the anguish of the Ukrainian people and their plea for peace. Pylypiv is mourning the loss of his soldier son.
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