Pope Leo XIV calls for prayers for peace in Ukraine

In a letter to Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, his Special Envoy to the celebrations marking the 35th anniversary of the restoration of the Latin Rite Church’s structures in Ukraine, Pope Leo XIV recalls the Church’s twentieth-century persecution and urges prayers for peace, for families, and for all those suffering because of the war

Jul 12, 2026

Thge Marian Shrine of Berdychiv in Ukraine

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 IXIn 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 centuryOver 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 peaceBy 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.”—Vatican News