Pope speaks with Ukrainian bishop about diplomatic, spiritual push to end war
September 12, 2026
» Continue to this story on Vatican News (Italian)
CWN Editor's Note: Pope Leo XIV is making a spiritual and diplomatic push to end the Russia-Ukraine War, a Ukrainian bishop said following a September 11 audience with the Pontiff.
Bishop Pavlo Honcharuk of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia recounted that the Pope “said we are doing everything we can to bring this war to an end” and “that there is great work being done in this direction” from both diplomatic and spiritual standpoints. “For us, this is important because it shows us we are not alone, that the world clearly sees who the victim is and who the aggressor is.”
Visits to Ukraine by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (the Vatican peace envoy) and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher (the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations) “demonstrate that the Apostolic See is making every possible effort,” Bishop Honcharuk added. “That is, they are using the entire ‘arsenal,’ all the tools at their disposal, to advance this cause.”
Bishop Honcharuk, who described Kharkiv as the war’s epicenter, spoke of the “continuous bombardment of civilians and warehouses, a true death machine. Many people are dying, children are dying, and residents are losing their homes. It truly looks like the extermination of the people in Ukraine.”
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