Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, has asked Pope Francis to go to Ukraine almost each time they’ve met for a non-public audience. Each time, the pope has pointed to a folder resting on his desk containing the formal invitation from Ukrainian officials and said he’s waiting “for the suitable time,” Yurash said.
Even though the war between Russia and Ukraine began in 2014, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 significantly escalated the conflict and brought it to the forefront of world conversations. More than two years later and after repeated appeals from Ukrainian religious and political leaders, the pope has not personally visited Ukraine.
“When I meet him, and when I actually have this chance, he at all times tells me one phrase: I’m waiting for the suitable time when my visit will symbolize an actual positive input into the situation,” Yurash told Religion News Service on Monday.Â
The Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See is a stone’s throw from St. Peter’s Square. Pictures of Vatican prelates meeting with Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fill the partitions. Zelenskyy too asked Francis to go to Kyiv before the invasion in 2022 and has since then repeated the invitation to the Holy Father.
For Yurash, a papal visit would signify the “biggest step within the peace constructing process in Ukraine.” Every time the pope has told him he’s waiting for the precise time to go to Ukraine, the ambassador said, he answered by stating that “anytime you come to Ukraine, it is going to be the suitable time, since you will bring an important thing: You will bring hope. You will bring a latest energy. You will bring something unique and an indication of closeness from the Western civilization, from the Western society, a message that we’re all with you.”
In a 2022 interview with Reuters, Pope Francis had announced he would visit Kyiv provided that he could travel to Moscow as well. The desire to avoid taking sides in a conflict reflects a long-standing Vatican approach to diplomacy and the hope of acting as a peace broker.
But the pope’s efforts to stay above the fray have also led to some diplomatic blunders. Speaking to the Italian news outlet Il Corriere della Sera in 2022, the pope suggested NATO was chargeable for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and later hinted at imperial interests at play in the continuing conflict.
In an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI in March, Francis looked as if it would encourage Ukraine to embrace the courage of the “white flag” and sit down on the negotiating table. Despite the Vatican’s attempts to supply context for the papal remarks, Ukrainians reacted angrily to the pope’s comments.
While Yurash understands the great intentions of Vatican diplomacy, he was critical of the pope’s efforts to influence the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Any negotiation may be possible if you’ve the second side,” he said, “but Russia has at all times been negative, not responding, not being polite, not being positive in any terms.”
Pope Francis has spearheaded a diversified effort to bring peace to the region, from official diplomacy, to charitable outlets, to unofficial channels. Leading the official effort is the pope’s No. 2, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who visited Ukraine in mid-July for a six-day trip to fulfill with local officials and spiritual leaders.
It was the primary visit by Parolin for the reason that starting of the invasion, having previously visited the country in 2016 and 2021. The Vatican’s de facto foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, also visited the country in May 2022.
Parolin celebrated the ultimate Mass for Catholic Latin Rite Ukrainians on the Marian sanctuary of Berdychiv, a significant Catholic site within the country. The sanctuary has been elevated to a minor basilica, an indication of the Vatican’s recognition of the location where a whole bunch of Ukrainian faithful have prayed for peace.
He asked for Mary’s intercession within the war and compared the Ukrainian suffering to “the dark hour of Calvary” when Jesus was crucified.
Parolin also visited the Greek Catholic cathedral in Kyiv and met with the most important archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who has been a gentle voice for Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggressions. Parolin also visited Odessa and witnessed firsthand the devastation of the war, meeting with children within the pediatric Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv, the most important within the country, which was bombed in July of last yr.
Zelenskyy presented Parolin with a medal of order of merit for his efforts in supporting the sovereignty of Ukraine. Their discussions focused on paths to peace but in addition on the various Christian denominations cohabitating, sometimes tenuously, within the battle-torn country.
Yurash described Parolin’s visit as “successful for either side,” underlining Ukraine’s appreciation for the Vatican’s efforts. “I actually hope that in some unspecified time in the future, as a consequence of this very vital visit, we could have a possibility to greet His Holiness in Ukraine as well.”
Parolin seemed more skeptical a few peaceful resolution to the conflict, especially after Ukrainian troops moved into Russia’s Kursk region on Aug. 6. “These are very worrying developments, since it means opening latest fronts,” Parolin told reporters on Monday. “In this sense, the probabilities for peace could grow to be increasingly distant.”
Pope Francis’ unofficial diplomacy channels are led by his peace envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who just isn’t only the president of the Italian bishops’ conference but in addition a talented negotiator with experience in conflict resolution. Yurash said Zuppi, who has already met with political leaders within the U.S., China, Russia and Ukraine, has been successful in his efforts.
Zuppi has been involved in negotiating the exchange of hostages and ensuring Ukrainian children be returned to their homes. The cardinal has relied on the influential St. Egidio movement, a lay organization with respected experience in peace constructing and creating humanitarian corridors for refugees. Yurash said Zuppi is in touch with Russian officials but added that the main points of his work are secret.
Pope Francis has continued to issue charitable support to Ukraine through his papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who has helped provide basic necessities, medicines and funds.
Reflecting on his tenure as ambassador, which began shortly after the beginning of the full-blown war with Russia, Yurash said he has appreciated the support and help from other state representatives. He worked especially closely with the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Joe Donnelly, who presented his credentials to the pope only seven days after Yurash.
Yurash, whose son is enlisted within the Ukrainian army and can soon join the front, said he avoids any contact with the Russian representative to the Holy See. “How can I communicate with the one who, even by his presence here, is a logo of international terrorism?” he asked.
He said he hasn’t given up hope that the pope will visit his country — but when “the suitable time” will likely be for Francis, he said, stays an open query.
