Pope Leo XIV calls for prayers for peace in Ukraine

By Edoardo Giribaldi

Pope Leo XIV has called for prayers for all the faithful, living and deceased, who suffer or have suffered because of the “brutality” of the war in Ukraine. He also urges the faithful to implore God for peace in the world and in families.

These are the central themes of the Pope’s letter to Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, whom he has appointed as his Special Envoy to the celebrations marking the 35th anniversary of the restoration of the structures of the Latin Rite Church in Ukraine.

The celebrations will take place on 19 July 2026 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Berdychiv. The appointment was announced in L’Osservatore Romano on 20 June 2026. The papal mission will also include Monsignor Andrzej Legowicz, private secretary to the Archbishop of Lviv, and Father Pavlo Khomiak, Chancellor of the Diocese of Lutsk.

Echoing a letter of Pope Gregory IX

In the letter, written in Latin, Pope Leo XIV recalls the words of a letter sent by Pope Gregory IX in 1234 to the Latin Rite clergy and faithful living in the territory of present-day Ukraine. In that letter, Gregory wrote that the Church shows particular benevolence towards her “devoted and humble children” and, “lest they be harassed by the assaults of wicked men, protects them with the defence of her maternal care.”

Filled with zeal for the faith and devotion, the letter continued, they “raised a bulwark in defence of the spread of worship of the divine Name and, for this reason, frequently endured harassment, injury and plundering at the hands of persecutors of the Christian faith, who constantly laid snares for them.”

The “cruel persecution” of the twentieth century

Over the centuries that followed, Pope Leo writes, the Catholic clergy and faithful living in that land offered a “powerful witness of faith” amid the many events of history, especially during the twentieth century, when, after the Second World War, “Ukraine was subjected to a regime inspired by Soviet ideology.”

During that period, “the Catholic Church in that region was subjected to a cruel persecution, organised and carried out by the civil authorities, whose aim was its complete eradication from among the people.”

The Pope notes that the ecclesial community in Ukraine subsequently “found new life and renewed growth,” and now celebrates the thirty-fifth anniversary of the restoration of its institutions together with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Apostolic Journey of Saint John Paul II to Ukraine.

Praying for peace

By appointing Archbishop Gallagher as his Special Envoy, Pope Leo XIV entrusts him with presiding over the liturgical celebrations at the National Shrine in Berdychiv. He asks him to pray for all the Ukrainian faithful, living and deceased, who suffer or have suffered “deeply because of the brutality of the war.”

The Pope also asks Archbishop Gallagher to encourage those taking part in the celebrations to “implore peace for the world and for families, and to remain steadfast in fidelity to God’s commandments.”