Zelenskyy to attend inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be attending Sunday’s inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, a top aide has said.

The recently elected pope will formally take on his role as head of the Catholic Church with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square that is expected to draw large crowds, as well as world leaders.

Zelenskyy said he would be happy to meet with other leaders as he did at Pope Francis’ funeral, when he held talks with US President Donald Trump and several European leaders.

The Vatican could be getting a larger role in the peace process between Ukraine and Russia, after Pope Leo offered to host peace talks this week.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the Vatican could be a potential venue, taking up the Holy See’s longstanding offer after Pope Leo vowed to personally make “every effort” to help end the war.

Speaking to reporters in Rome before meeting with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican point man on Ukraine, Rubio said that he would be discussing potential ways the Vatican could help, “the status of the talks, the updates after yesterday (Friday) and the path forward.”

Asked if the Vatican could be a peace broker, Rubio replied: “I wouldn’t call it broker, but it’s certainly — I think it’s a place that both sides would be comfortable going.”

During their meeting at the US Embassy in Rome, Rubio thanked Zuppi for the Vatican’s humanitarian role, citing in particular prisoner swaps and the return of Ukrainian children. Rubio “emphasised the importance of continued collaboration under the new leadership of Pope Leo XIV,” US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

Pope Leo, who was elected history’s first American pope on 8 May, took up Pope Francis’ call for peace in Ukraine in his first Sunday noon blessing as pope. He appealed for all sides to do whatever possible to reach “an authentic, just and lasting peace.”

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, repeated the Vatican’s offer to serve as a venue for direct talks, saying the failure of negotiations in Istanbul to reach a ceasefire this week was “tragic.”

Asked concretely what such an offer would entail, Parolin said that the Vatican could serve as a venue for a direct meeting between the two sides.

Additional sources • AP