As Cardinal Parolin’s visit to Ukraine came to a close, he met with president Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, who thanked the Vatican Secretary of State for his presence at a peace summit in Switzerland.
“Thank you for your own participation in the peace summit. That was the first step. Only the first step, but anyway already the first step. All these steps are very important for us,” the president said.
The Vatican stated this visit was an expression of the pope’s solidarity with Ukraine and his desire for a just and lasting peace.
President Zelenskyy pointed out that this meeting centred on the decisions of a prior encounter concerning peace and what role the Vatican plays.
Cardinal Parolin’s visit was pastoral as he closed one of the most popular pilgrimages for Ukrainian Catholics. But it was also a visit to religious leaders, politicians and the Okhmatdyt paediatric hospital, which was attacked earlier this month when more than 600 children were in the hospital.