Pope Leo XIV received on Thursday morning, 15 May, 2025 His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv. Meeting in the Library of the Apostolic Palace, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church thanked the Pope for his words during the Regina Caeli on Sunday 11 May when he recalled the suffering of the Ukrainian people, calling for “an authentic, just and lasting peace” and asking for the release of all prisoners and the return home of children who had been taken away.

Following his first Regina Coeli, Pope Leo XIV issues an appeal for an end to the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and on the India/Pakistan border.

According to a statement from the Greek Catholic Secretariat, the Pope’s words “are a true spiritual balm for the wounded soul of the Ukrainian people.”

At the conclusion of the audience, Archbishop Shevchuk presented the Pope with a symbolic painting titled, "Requiem Prayer" which depicts the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Artist Bohdan Pylypiv, the father of a soldier who died in the conflict, created the work.