Ukraine War

The Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The Russian offensive triggered the largest refugee crisis since the Second World War. Thousands of people, including many civilians, have died in the war amid heavy fighting in the north, east, and south of Ukraine. The country is home to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the largest of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome. Pope Francis has said that the Vatican is willing to mediate an end to the conflict between the predominantly Eastern Orthodox nations.

The Latest

Pope Francis receives Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Vatican, Nov. 27, 2024.

U.S. Secretary Blinken meets Pope Francis: Vatican talks address Middle East and Ukraine

Nov 27, 2024

By AC Wimmer

The State Department said discussions between Blinken and the pope focused on ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine... Read more

Pope Francis attends a Vatican screening of the 2022 documentary “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” on Feb. 24, 2023.

Pope Francis conveys closeness to Ukraine in letter marking 1,000th day of war

Nov 19, 2024

By Kristina Millare, Zoe Romanowsky

In a letter sent to Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, Pope Francis expressed his great sorrow for the... Read more

Vatican peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi spoke Aug. 14, 2024, with Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, about the Russia-Ukraine war. The phone conversation was the most recent step in the Vatican’s continued diplomatic efforts to promote lasting peace in the region.

Vatican talks to China in continued Russia-Ukraine peace efforts

Aug 16, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

The phone conversation was the most recent step in the Vatican’s continued diplomatic efforts to promote lasting peace in the... Read more

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Vatican secretary of state meets Ukrainian president Zelenskyy

Jul 23, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday at the end of a... Read more

Archbishop Georg Gänswein was the personal secretary of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Archbishop Gänswein on Baltic appointment: Ready for ‘the front’

Jul 16, 2024

By AC Wimmer

Archbishop Georg Gänswein discussed his new role as Vatican nuncio to the Baltic states amid the war in Ukraine in... Read more

Smoke billows into the air behind a Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Kyiv, Ukraine, after a missile attack on July 8, 2024.

Ukrainian Greek archbishop condemns ‘horrifying’ attack on children’s hospital

Jul 9, 2024

By Daniel Payne

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said in a video accompanying a Monday press release that the strike was “a sin that cries... Read more

Pope Francis blesses the ambulance that he donated in June 2024 to to treat the wounded in Ukraine’s Ternopil region.

Pope Francis donates ambulance, opens war trauma center in Ukraine

Jun 25, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner and prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, is traveling to Ukraine... Read more

Pope Francis holds a rosary and New Testament that belonged to a slain 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier as he appeals for peace during his general audience on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

Pope Francis makes peace appeal while holding rosary of slain Ukrainian soldier

Apr 3, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Speaking in St. Peter’s Square on April 3, the pope revealed that the rosary belonged to a boy named Oleksandre,... Read more

Sviatoslav Shevchuk is major archbishop of Kyiv–Galicia and primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church talks war, the pope, and same-sex blessings 

Mar 16, 2024

By Peter Pinedo

In an exclusive interview with EWTN News, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk spoke of the continued need for humanitarian aid in... Read more

Pope Francis presides over a penitential service at St. Pius V Parish in Rome on March 8, 2024.

Vatican: Pope Francis’ ‘white flag’ remark a call for negotiations, not Ukraine’s surrender

Mar 9, 2024

By Shannon Mullen

The Holy Father made the remarks last month in a newly released television interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI. Read more

Sviatoslav Shevchuk is Major Archbishop of Kyiv–Galicia and Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Ukrainian Catholic patriarch’s message in U.S.: ‘Please don’t give up Ukraine’

Mar 7, 2024

By Peter Pinedo

In an exclusive interview with EWTN News, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk pleaded for the president and U.S. lawmakers to renew... Read more

Speaking in his Angelus address on March 3, 2024, about the Israel-Hamas war, Pope Francis made an emotional plea for negotiations to reach a deal that both frees the hostages immediately and grants civilians access to humanitarian aid.

Pope Francis urges ‘an immediate cease-fire in Gaza’ that frees hostages, grants aid 

Mar 3, 2024

By Courtney Mares

In his Angelus address on March 3, the pope made an emotional plea for a deal that both frees the... Read more

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address at the Gostiny Dvor conference center in central Moscow on Feb. 29, 2024.

Putin warns West of nuclear war risk over Ukraine troop deployment

Feb 29, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

“[The West] must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” Russian President Vladimir Putin... Read more

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 25, 2024, during his weekly Angelus reflection. The pope canceled his audiences the day before due to mild flu conditions, according to the Vatican.

Pope Francis, recovering from ‘mild flu,’ renews call for peace in Ukraine

Feb 25, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

Pope Francis appeared in good form during his Angelus address, marking the the Ukraine war’s second anniversary and reflecting on... Read more

Borys Gudziak, archeparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

Catholic Church in Ukraine facing extermination, bishops say

Oct 31, 2023

By Peter Pinedo

The bishops said that the Church in Ukraine could be facing severe repression and may once again be forced underground... Read more

Pope Francis delivers his Sunday Angelus message to about 20,000 faithful in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 22, 2023.

Pope Francis at Sunday Angelus: ‘We must not be slaves to any earthly power’

Oct 22, 2023

By Matthew Santucci

During Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis spoke to the faithful on the importance of the correct relationship between the Church and... Read more

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a high level Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine on the sidelines of the 78th U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Sept. 20, 2023.

More Republicans hesitant on Ukraine funding as Zelenskyy talks to lawmakers, UN

Sep 20, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

A number of legislators are expressing reservations about sending more aid to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is making his... Read more

Black smoke billows over the city after drone strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Sept. 19, 2023, amid Russia's military invasion on Ukraine. Drones attacked Ukraine's western city of Lviv early on Sept. 19, and explosions rang out, causing a warehouse fire and wounding at least one person.

Vatican cardinal to make charity mission to Ukraine city hit by Russian drones

Sep 20, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski is in Ukraine this week to open the House of Refuge “in the name of Pope Francis,... Read more

Pope Francis meets with Russia’s new ambassador to the Vatican Ivan Soltanovsky on Sept. 18, 2023, at the Vatican.

Pope Francis meets with new Russian ambassador to the Vatican

Sep 18, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

The meeting comes days after papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi visited Beijing to discuss efforts to bring about peace in... Read more

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, Italy.

Cardinal Zuppi meets with Chinese official to discuss peace in Ukraine

Sep 15, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi met with Chinese Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Read more