Zelenskyy meets with Pope in Vatican
Zelenskyy's audience with the Pope. Photo: bb.lv
Pope Francis met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Vatican on 13 May 2023, repotrttd vaticannews.va.
The Pontiff received the head of the Ukrainian state at an audience that lasted 40 minutes.
During the meeting, the two sides exchanged gifts. The Pope gave Zelenskyy a sculpture with a peace branch, while the President of Ukraine presented the Pontiff with an image of the Mother of God, made on a bulletproof plate.
"I asked him to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine for there can be no equality between a victim and an aggressor. I also spoke about our peace formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving just peace. I offered to join its implementation," Zelenskyy commented on the meeting.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the Pope in person for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Previously, they met in February 2020. Then Zelenskyy discussed at the Vatican the humanitarian situation and ways of a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Donbas.
As reported, Zelenskyy congratulated the allies on Easter.
Read also
U.S. bishops call for Church unity on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Assembly of Bishops of the USA has issued an encyclical for the Triumph of Orthodoxy on Church unity, veneration of icons, and support for pan-Orthodox ministry.
OCU organizes harassment of businessman for aiding UOC
Hryshchuk called for boycotting the business of the entrepreneur who built a UOC church in the Rivne region.
Head of Lavra Reserve: I believe UOC monks will move to the OCU
Ostapenko said there are 140 UOC monks and novices on the territory of the Lower Lavra.
"Shield of Judah": Biblical name given to operations against Iran
A joint Israeli–US military operation against Iran has received a code name referencing the biblical forefather of the Jewish royal line.
In Syria, Islamic militants behead statues of Christ and Virgin Mary
Vandals beheaded statues of the Lord and the Mother of God at the entrance to the "Cave of the Virgin Mary" in the village of Al-Basiya near the coastal city of Banias in Syria.
Icon with particle of Gabriel Urgebadze's relics to be brought to Uzhhorod from Georgia
The holy icon, painted in Georgia, will be brought to the Holy Trinity Church of the Mukachevo Eparchy of the UOC.