Shevchuk again invites pontiff to Kyiv and presents him with “dove of peace”
The head of the UGCC met with Pope Leo for a second time and again voiced an invitation to visit Ukraine, presenting a “symbolic gift.”
On February 12, 2026, Pope Leo XIV received the head of the UGCC Sviatoslav Shevchuk in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. As reported by the Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome, Shevchuk thanked the Pope for his support of Ukraine and invited him to visit the country.
During the audience, Shevchuk handed the Pope lists of prisoners and missing persons that he had received from their families, and expressed gratitude for the Vatican’s involvement in humanitarian missions since the start of the full-scale war. According to the UGCC, the Pope assured him of continued prayerful support for Ukraine.
At the end of the meeting, the head of the Greek Catholics again invited the Pope to visit Kyiv and presented him with a sculpture titled “Dove of Peace During War” by the Italian artist Luciano Capriotti. The ceramic composition depicts a wounded bird struck by a fragment of metal. According to Shevchuk, this image symbolizes “a wounded, but living Ukraine.”
This was the second personal meeting between the Pope and the leader of the Uniates: the first took place on May 15, 2025, shortly after Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope of Rome.
As the UOJ previously reported, Shevchuk earlier said that the Ukrainian people are convinced: if the Pope comes, the war will end.
