Bereaved Ukrainian mothers travel to the Vatican to meet with Pope Leo XIV in hope for a miracle

 VATICAN CITY – On Friday morning, for a few minutes, just long enough to take a group photo in St Peter's Square, 40 Ukrainian mothers met Pope Leo XIV. They came from Kiev to embrace him and ask him for two things. “Not to be abandoned,” and for the new pope to “want to make a pilgrimage to Kiev”.

 “It would be a miracle, and I am sure it would set in motion an action capable of stopping this war. I believe in miracles,” said Liudmyla, a psychologist by profession, with two 30-year-old sons at the front and a husband who is a doctor. She coordinates the group and runs a women's network that has so far helped 500 women affected by bereavement, thanks to the support of the Capuchin friars. 

 In front of the Pope, the women slowly unfurled four white and yellow flags bearing the symbol of the Italian Catholic association that has been helping them since the beginning of the conflict through a comprehensive rehabilitation programme. This programme (which also includes psychological support) has proved fundamental for many, both to prevent them from ending up adrift and to help them rediscover their humanity and a glimmer of hope.

 The small delegation to the Vatican was led by the Capuchins of Perugia, the Ukrainian Capuchins, and the leaders of Edizioni di Frate Indovino, the publishing company that each year allocates part of the proceeds from its famous calendar (1.5 million copies sold) to various humanitarian initiatives.

 “What we have managed to structure is a path of inner healing based on friendship, sharing and faith. There is also an aspect of sisterhood, with women supporting other women,” explains Liudmyla. Their refuge in Kiev, called Casa Padre Pio, allows mothers to slowly start smiling again. Some would never want to stop talking about their lost child. Now they all know that within those walls they can do so, always finding a listening ear, sharing, even cooking together.

 Sometimes news of the death of young men at the front arrives even a year after their disappearance, suddenly shattering any glimmer of hope and plunging mothers who no longer have family networks into the deepest despair. Mourning is now everywhere. And in Ukraine there is a high rate of single women who are displaced, unemployed and without support.

 Once again, war proves to be hardest on the poor. “My son's name was Oleh, he was 30 years old and as handsome as Jesus. He was a doctor and died in Bakhmut, where there was fierce fighting. He saved many soldiers, going to the front line to pick them up when they were wounded. Now he is gone,” said Oksana, 67.

 Like all of the 40 mothers who arrived in Rome, she wore a traditional embroidered dress, but instead of a sunflower brooch, she wore a larger photograph around her neck of Oleh in uniform and smiling. Oksana continued: “We mothers have no choice. We can no longer bring our children back to life, but neither can we stop them when they choose to go and defend Ukraine. It will take a miracle to achieve peace.”

rs