Zelensky Invites Pope Leo to Kyiv and Pushes for Canonization of Nazi Collaborator

VATICAN CITY — On July 9, 2025, during a meeting at the Vatican, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Pope Leo to visit Ukraine and advocated for the canonization of Uniate Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.

“I told His Holiness about the respect Ukrainian society holds for the figure of Andrey Sheptytsky—his actions, including the rescue of Jews during World War II, and his defense of the Christian faith. We hope that Metropolitan Sheptytsky’s contribution and merits will receive due recognition,” Zelensky stated on his Telegram channel.

The President’s appeal coincides with recent claims by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) that the beatification process (the Catholic step prior to canonization) for Sheptytsky is in its final stages.

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (1865–1944) is one of the most prominent figures in the history of the UGCC. He led the Greek Catholic Church from 1900 until his death in 1944.

Sheptytsky is known for seeking close ties with political leaders—including some widely regarded today as criminals.

In a 1941 letter to Adolf Hitler, written after the Nazi occupation of Kyiv, Sheptytsky wrote:

“I send Your Excellency my heartfelt congratulations on the capture of the capital of Ukraine, the golden-domed city on the Dnipro—Kyiv. The Ukrainian people see this liberation from the Bolshevik yoke… I will pray to God for a blessing on the victory, which will guarantee lasting peace for Your Excellency, the German Army, and the German People.”

Conversely, in a 1944 letter to Joseph Stalin following the Soviet recapture of Lviv, Sheptytsky wrote:

“For the realization of the cherished hopes and aspirations of the Ukrainians, who for centuries saw themselves as one people and longed to be united in a single state, the Ukrainian people express to you their sincere gratitude.”

He also wrote similarly reverent letters to Russian Emperor Nicholas II. This may lead some to say that Sheptytsky was simply kissing up to whichever ruler happened to be in power at the time. To some extent this is true, but his fervor for the Nazi cause didn't stop with flattering letters. In his The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999, Timothy Snyder notes that Sheptytsky was an enthusiastic supporter of the German's Final Solution. 

In one of Sheptytsky's 1941 Pastoral Epistles to the Ukrainian People, the bishop gives his full support and blessing to the newly announced 14th Waffen Grenadier Division or 1st Galician SS. His encouragement led to nearly 80,000 Ukrainian Greek Catholics seeking enlistment. Eleven thousand Ukrainians would join the unit; a unit used exclusively for duty in the rear — implementing the Final Solution. As the tide turned against the Germans, these men joined up with Bandera and the UPA, using the "skills" they learned in the SS to wipe out hundreds of thousands of Poles and, to a lesser extent, Orthodox Ukrainians.

This is the man Zelensky wants Rome to proclaim a saint.

The Union of Orthodox Journalists (SPZh) previously published an in-depth analysis of Sheptytsky’s controversial role in Ukrainian history.

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