Pope Francis met privately with a group of 15 Ukrainian pilgrims on Thursday morning, following his countless appeals since the war began calling for peace and an end of the war since the Russian invasion.
In a brief statement, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed the meeting that took place before the Pope’s encounter with university students.
“This morning, before leaving the Nunciature,” the statement began, “Pope Francis met a group of 15 young pilgrims from Ukraine accompanied by Mr. Denys Kolada, Consultant for Dialogue with Religious Organisations at the Ukrainian government.”
“After listening to their moving stories,” the Pope, Matteo Bruni stated, “addressed a few words to the young people, expressing his ‘sorrowful and prayerful’ closeness.”
At the end of the half-hour meeting, the statement noted, the Pope and the young people recited the Our Father together, “with their thoughts turned toward tormented Ukraine.”
Also, since his arrival in Lisbon, the Holy Father prayed specifically for a World Youth Day catechist who died while in the Portuguese capital for World Youth Day.
