Ukrainians don’t just want a political Pope. They deserve one

Expectations of Leo XIV in Ukraine are high, but not in terms of his commitment to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council from the 1960s or the church’s stand on AI, but as an influential actor in international relations.

Ukraine is hoping that the Vatican’s soft power and moral authority under Pope Leo will translate into greater pressure on Putin. However, with Ukraine on the brink of pressured peace talks, Pope Leo has no time to ease into the role but needs to make choices that will define it. 

After the Conclave finished last week, Ukrainian Greek Catholic leader Sviatoslav Shevchuk declared that Leo XIV will be the “Pope of peace” for Ukraine. That hope is rooted in disappointment: Pope Francis was seen as tiptoeing around Russian aggression, hesitant to overly criticise either Putin or the Russian Orthodox Church, which has been providing the ideological backing for this war.  

Shortly before his death, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP about frustrations in Kyiv, saying that Francis showed an “absolute ignorance” of Ukraine and that his worldview was shaped by Marxist ideals.  

Pope Leo has no time to ease into the role but needs to make choices that will define it

“He did not really understand and was not even trying to understand what was happening here,” the Ukrainian official was quoted as saying on condition of anonymity.   

Support and sympathy for Ukraine in 2025 are not nearly as strong as they were when the war started three years ago. Donald Trump’s appeasement of Vladimir Putin, which was on display during his Oval Office exchange with President Zelensky, has constrained Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Europe has offered little real leadership despite its lofty rhetoric. Hit by the US’s escalating tariff war, European capitals decided to cozy up to Trump, which affected their ability to support Ukraine “as long as it needs.” 

As Trump spares Putin from criticism and blames Ukraine for the war, Ukrainians deserve a Pope who speaks out, using his influence as a pressure tactic against Putin, which Putin would not be able to overlook. Ukrainians also need the world’s spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics to denounce Patriarch Kirill’s pseudo-religious support of Putin’s war machinery as not just as false theology, but as a tool of tyranny. 

Apart from the faint voice of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople, with whom the Russians have severed communion, rarely has anyone confronted Kirill. Pope Francis did so early in the war, when he famously urged him “not to be Putin’s altar boy,” but chose a quieter path after that.

As the conflict enters a crucial phase of discussing the contours of a “peace deal,” the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Archbishop Shevchuk warned in March that the highly repeated phrase of “just peace” must represent more than a mere catchphrase. 

“Let us remember that unpunished evil will eventually resurface even more forcefully and with more drastic consequences,” he said. 

Ukrainians deserve a Pope who speaks out

Clearly hinting at the Trump administration, Shevchuk noted that Russian propaganda has already poisoned international relations, and that “without a clear distinction between the truth and the biggest lie of our time—the ideology of the ‘Russian world’—the end of the war in Ukraine will never result in a just and lasting peace.” 

But many observers drawing from his personality suggest that, in relation to Ukraine, Pope Leo would be Francis 2.0, as he is known as a “bridge-builder” seeking no confrontation. On Saturday, while speaking to the Catholic Cardinals, the new Pope said that he wants to build on Francis’ “precious legacy.” However, in Ukraine, this was quite limited.  

Francis largely focused on two issues: prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia. Although there have been numerous POW exchanges, most occurred under the auspices of the UAE.  

As of now, there have been no accounts highlighting the Vatican’s effectiveness in returning Ukrainian children. The Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, Visvaldas Kulbokas, recently confirmed that the Vatican’s lack of finances is a barrier to expanding its operations in this area. 

This situation requires the new Pope to be more engaged, not less. The traditionalists would argue that the Vatican’s way of doing things warrants more pragmatism and avoiding confrontation at all costs. However, Pope Francis clashed with Trump over his immigration policies on numerous occasions - showing that a different path is possible. It just requires a willingness to do what is right.  

The Vatican may need time to rethink its approach to Ukraine, but Pope Leo doesn’t have that luxury. His first major test will come quickly, as US-led pressure pushes Ukraine and Russia towards direct peace talks. 

If Zelensky is forced to accept a plan that is highly asymmetrical and likely to reward Putin’s aggression by ceding parts of its territory, any support from the Vatican for such a plan, especially if this is not done in concert with the Europeans, would be seen as a betrayal, causing irreparable damage to the perception of Pope Leo in Ukraine.