#BreakingNews Pope Francis Receives Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican - VIDEO

The Press Office of the Holy See confirms the audience this afternoon, Saturday 13 May, in the Vatican, as part of a trip by the head of state which includes a stop in Rome. This is the second in-person meeting between the Pontiff and Zelensky after the 2020 audience; the first since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. In these months, phone calls and contacts.

Vatican News reports that it is the second meeting in person, after the one in 2020; the first since the outbreak of the conflict in "battered" Ukraine. Almost fifteen months after the first Russian attack on Kyiv, Pope Francis receives President Volodymir Zelensky. The meeting is taking place today, Saturday 13 May, as announced by the Vatican Press Office, confirming news circulated in the last few hours. The hearing will take place in the afternoon after 3 pm, in the Vatican, and takes place as part of a trip by the Ukrainian president to Rome, which will also include a meeting with the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and with the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Zelensky himself announced it around 10.24 on his Twitter account speaking of "an important visit".

The Pope and the Ukrainian president - as mentioned - had met in person in the Vatican Apostolic Palace on 8 February 2020, less than a year after the elections that had decreed his victory at the helm of Ukraine. An interview lasting about half an hour behind closed doors, at the end of which Francis had given the Medallion of San Martino di Tours, with the hope that it would protect the Ukrainian people already plagued by the "war" at the time but the one in the east of the country . Zelensky then also met Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. The "cordial talks" in the Secretariat of State had been mainly dedicated "to the humanitarian situation and the search for peace in the context of the conflict which, since 2014, has still been afflicting Ukraine", read the bulletin of the Press Office of that day. The hope expressed was "that all the Parties involved demonstrate the utmost sensitivity towards the needs of the population, the first victim of the violence, as well as commitment and coherence in dialogue".


Telephone interviews

After the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, there were several telephone conversations between Francis and Zelensky. The first dates back to 26 February last year, two days after the start of the conflict: while the dramatic news from the war front increased by the hour, the Pope expressed to the president "his deepest sorrow for the tragic events that are happening in the country". Zelensky himself reported it through his Twitter account, explaining that he "thanked Pope Francis for praying for peace in Ukraine and for a truce. The Ukrainian people - he said - feel the spiritual support of Holiness from him ”.


There was then a new phone call on March 22, 2022, the day President Zelensky went on a hang-out with the Italian Parliament. "He said very important words", the head of state told the Italian parliamentarians, adding that he had reported to the Pope of the resistance shown by the Ukrainian people "who became an army when they saw evil". Again on Twitter, Zelensky informed that he had reported to the Pope "the difficult humanitarian situation and the blockage of relief corridors by Russian forces. He would welcome the mediating role of the Holy See in ending human suffering. I thanked for the prayers for peace and for Ukraine".

Finally, another phone call on 12 August 2022, amidst continuous and vigorous appeals launched by the Pope at the Angelus and in public audiences and private contacts through officials. Even that time it was always the Ukrainian president who gave the news with a tweet, stating that the conversation had talked about the horrors that the population suffers due to the Russian invasion. The Ukrainian leader also expressed gratitude to the Pope for his prayers and hoped for a visit by Francis to Kyiv.

The invitation to the capital was also recently reiterated to the Pope by the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, received in a private audience in the Apostolic Palace on April 27. 

Source: Vatican News IT - Also: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/05/13/0367/00785.html

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