Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher met President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 20, concluding his five-day mission to Ukraine as Pope Leo XIV's special envoy.

During the visit, Archbishop Gallagher laid roses at the Maidan Memorial, founded to commemorate the 2013 and 2014 demonstrations that resulted in the removal of the pro-Russian president and were followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

During talks with the acting Foreign Minister, Andrij Sybiha, the Holy See called for a lasting, just peace, reaffirming its closeness to Ukraine. The remarks echoed the prayer of Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi in Kyiv on July 15, the day after a Russian missile attack on the city, in which he prayed for a “just peace”.

He said: “May prisoners return home, may children embrace their families once again, may the missing be found, and may everyone be able to mourn over the body of their loved one who has fallen. Inspire in each one of us the courage and wisdom to become builders of peace.”

Cardinal Zuppi, who is president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and Archbishop of Bologna, joined Archbishop Gallagher on the visit.

The purpose of the mission was to strengthen contacts and channels of communication established during Cardinal Zuppi’s first mission to Ukraine in 2023 as part of the Holy See’s humanitarian efforts.

Since the onset of the war in 2022, the Holy See has worked to facilitate prisoner-of-war exchanges, repatriate the bodies of the dead and secure the return of children whom Ukraine claims were forcibly taken to Russia.

On July 19, Archbishop Gallagher celebrated Mass with more than 3,000 people in Berdychiv to mark the 35^th anniversary of the restoration of the Latin Rite Catholic Church in Ukraine.

In his homily, he said that “we are not slaves to our physical infirmities or our poverty, regardless of the personal and collective causes that leave us without food, water, electricity or heating during the winter”.

“No one can diminish our dignity in the eyes of God – not even the demon of war that attacks us.”

He continued: “Only when we are truly aware that we are children of God and children of the Mother of God can no one plunge us into profound sorrow, even when we bitterly mourn our dead.”