Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he had spoken to Pope Francis on the phone, telling the pope that he would welcome Vatican mediation to end the suffering in his country.
Writing on Twitter on March 22, Zelenskyy said he told the pope “about the difficult humanitarian situation and the blocking of rescue corridors by Russian troops.”
Talked to
. Told His Holiness about the difficult humanitarian situation and the blocking of rescue corridors by Russian troops. The mediating role of the Holy See in ending human suffering would be appreciated. Thanked for the prayers for Ukraine and peace.
The Ukrainian president also said that “the mediating role of the Holy See in ending human suffering would be appreciated” and thanked the pope “for the prayers for Ukraine and peace.”
Zelenskyy also referenced his call with Pope Francis during a speech to the Italian parliament on March 22.
Speaking via video link, the Ukrainian president said he had spoken to the pope, who had said “very important words.”
The president said that Pope Francis told him: “I understand that you desire peace. I understand that you must defend yourselves, soldiers and civilians defend their country, each one defends.”
“And I responded,” Zelenskyy recalled, that “our people have become the army, [they became] the army when they saw the evil their enemy does, what devastation it has left.”
Zelenskyy said that in the conflict with Russia, at least 117 children have been killed, thousands wounded, tens of thousands of families destroyed, and millions of homes abandoned.
“And all of this started from one person,” he said.
Andrii Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, also shared the news of the conversation between the pope and the president on Twitter on Tuesday, [March 22]
Andrii Yurash
@AndriiYurash
New visible gesture of support of
by Pope Francisco: just several min. ago Holy Father called toPres. Volod. Zelensky and had very promising talking. Pope said:
is praying & doing everything possible for end of war; repeated that His Holiness is the most expected guest in.
“We saw a lady dress in white - more brilliant than the sun.” ~Sister Lucia of Fatima
Vatican News @VaticanNews
“Enough! Stop it! May weapons be silenced. Let us be serious about peace!” - Pope Francis #Ukraine
1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJV
"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."