Pope defends the relevance of human gestures at a meeting with Zelensky

Pope Francis told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican on Saturday that human gestures are badly needed in war-torn Ukraine.

Topics of conversation between Pope Francis and Zelensky at the meeting, which lasted about 40 minutes, were related to “the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused by the current war,” the Vatican said in a statement.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope noted his “constant prayers,” as evidenced by “several public appeals” he made when he “prayed to the Lord for peace since last February.”

“Both [os líderes] agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population,” he stressed.

Pope Francis also stressed “the urgent need for humane gestures towards the most vulnerable people, the innocent victims of the conflict,” a spokesman for the Vatican said.

In turn, Zelensky expressed the “great honor” to the Pope of Rome to see him, hand over heart, with the pontiff thanking “for the visit,” according to television footage recorded at the beginning of the meeting, which has now ended. .

The Pope presented Zelensky with a bronze work of art depicting an olive branch, a symbol of peace, as well as this year’s Message to the World, an encyclical on brotherhood and social friendship, and a document on peace in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader, in turn, offered him a piece of art with a bulletproof vest and a painting called “Loss”, about the death of children during the conflict.

This is the first meeting between Pope Francis and the President of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, although they already know each other because Francis received Zelensky in an audience on February 8, 2020, when they spoke about the “humanitarian situation and the search for peace” in the context of the conflict raging in Ukraine since 2014.

This new meeting is part of a Vatican peacekeeping mission announced by the Pope on the return flight from his recent trip to Hungary, the details of which are not yet known, although a source in the Vatican told Russian media that the meeting “has no direct bearing” on this and that Zelensky requested a meeting with Francisco “just a few days ago.”

In addition, the meeting is taking place at a time when an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive is expected, with the help of which Kyiv intends to return most of the territory occupied by the Russian army.

For all these reasons, the meeting generated high expectations, according to the Efe agency, as many expected it to be the starting point for difficult and complex negotiations, namely on the humanitarian issue.

On April 27, the Pope received Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, who repeated his invitation to visit Ukraine, a trip that Francis always replied that he would make when he could also go to Moscow.