POPE FRANCIS WELCOMES UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY
After meetings earlier today with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy was welcomed to the Vatican by Pope Francis. The two met for 40 minutes in a private room of the Paul VI Hall and exchanged gifts at the end of the encounter.
St. Peter’s Square was closed to the public, as were streets adjacent to Vatican City, some time before the arrival of Ukraine’s president and his entourage.
Journalists in the pool covering the visit said that, upon arriving at the door of the Paul VI hall, Zelensky, placing his hand on his heart, said “great honour!” As the pope and president sat down at a desk, the Holy Father told Zelenskyy, “thank you for this visit.”
The Holy Father gave President Zelenskyy a bronze work depicting an olive branch, the symbol of peace, copies of the 2023 Message for Peace, the Document on Human Fraternity, the Vatican book on the Statio Orbis of March 27, 2020, and the volume “An Encyclical on Peace in Ukraine.”
The president gave Pope Francis a work of art made from a bulletproof plate and a painting entitled “Loss”, on the killing of children during the conflict.
The Holy See Press Office said the meeting between the two, accompanied by a translator, lasted about 40 minutes.
“Today, Saturday 13 May 2023, the Holy Father Pope Francis received in audience H.E. Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, who subsequently met with His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Secretariat of State.
“During the cordial talks with H.E. Archbishop Gallagher, the focus was first of all on the current war in Ukraine and the urgent concerns associated with it, particularly those of humanitarian nature, as well as on the need to continue efforts to achieve peace.”
A further communique said, “The topics of the conversation refer to the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused by the ongoing war. The Pope assured (the president) of his constant prayer, as testified by his many public appeals and continuous invocation to the Lord for peace since February of last year. Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population. The Pope stressed in particular the urgent need for ‘human gestures’ towards the most fragile people, the innocent victims of the conflict.” (all photos Vatican media)
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How to spell the Ukrainian president’s name – at least 3 versions are out there: According to the US Library of Congress Romanisation tables, a character-for-character rendering of the Ukrainian president’s name into the Latin alphabet would result in the spelling: “Zelenskyy,” which according to his former spokesperson Iuliia Mendel, is the official spelling used by the Ukrainian Passport Service.
Joan's Rome 