Elizaveta Sirina, Razumkov Centre intern, student of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University

On May 7-8, 2025, the Conclave elected the successor of the late Pope Francis as the head of the Catholic Church – Pope Leo XIV. These events in the Vatican, without exaggeration, bore geopolitical significance and weight for many reasons, primarily due to the influence and authority of the Catholic Church in the world. It is worth noting that the Vatican's foreign policy rests on the principles of neutrality, the use of soft power through religious diplomacy and ecumenical dialogue, and positioning itself as a world arbitrator and mediator. The Vatican has a wide range of foreign policy tools, both secular and spiritual, and a wide outreach, making it a transnational actor exerting strong on local and global events.

The newly elected Pontiff is expected to promote continuity and further reforms, while pursuing his own political course.

It should be mentioned that the Pontificate of Pope Francis (2013-2025) differed from his predecessors by the frankness of the Pope’s statements and his manner of managing the Church. After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Pope called for immediate cessation of hostilities. Since then, he has repeated this appeal dozens of times, expressing sympathy for the victims of the war and providing humanitarian aid through Catholic charities. At the same time, he avoided taking sides, did not call Russia an aggressor, and stressed that the war was a conflict that required reconciliation of the parties through the mediation of the Vatican.

The name chosen for the Pope says a lot about the potential policy priorities of the new head of the Catholic Church, as it refers to Leo XIII, who was known for implementing a policy of modernization, focus on social issues and his role of a mediator in international conflicts.

The Pope's first steps and statements generally confirmed these expectations.  In his declarations, Leo XIV focused on social problems and the need for urgent action on the climate crisis. At the same time, his peacekeeping policy deserves special attention. In his first address, the newly elected Pontiff declared that the Church should "builds bridges and encourage dialogue,” called for a disarmed peace, restoration of multilateral diplomacy and “international institutions conceived and designed primarily to remedy eventual disputes within the international community”, in this way positioning himself as a Pope of Peace or at least as a future diplomatic mediator.

Leo XIV’s efforts to end wars and conflicts, primarily in Ukraine, are marked by more specific formulations. Even before his appointment as the Pope, in 2022, Cardinal Robert Francis Prévost (his secular name) in an interview for the Peruvian publication “Semanario Expresión” condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine, calling it “a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to seize territory for reasons of power.”

Since his appointment, Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly expressed his solidarity with Ukraine.

• In his first prayer at the Vatican, the Pope spoke of the sufferings of “martyred Ukraine”: “I carry in my heart the suffering of the beloved Ukrainian people.” “Let everything possible be done to achieve a true, just and lasting peace as soon as possible. Let all prisoners be released, and let children return to their families.”
• The first telephone conversation and official meeting of the newly appointed Pontiff with a head of state was a conversation and an audience with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which measures intended to resolve humanitarian problems and make peace were discussed.
• Amid the ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the Holy See offered to mediate in the talks and use the Vatican as a platform for the next round of the negotiations. Despite these efforts, Russia rejected the idea of ​​talks at the Vatican, thereby confirming its unwillingness to end the war.

The policy of Pope Leo XIV somewhat differs from the position of his predecessor, who spoke of the need to show the "courage of the white flag." The newly elected Pontiff acts as an active and consistent peacemaker. The Vatican, using its international authority and influence, can contribute to the unity of the civilized world in confronting modern challenges and threats, and to the establishment of a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.

https://razumkov.org.ua/komentari/vatykan-u-suchasnomu-sviti-ukrainskyi-vektor