As part of his ongoing visit to Ukraine, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has paid a visit to the port city of Odessa.

In a meeting on Saturday, in city’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, the cardinal spoke with the cathedral's bishop and priests, representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, government representatives, and members of the city’s Catholic community.

Cardinal Parolin began the encounter by greeting those present on behalf of the pope.  

The cardinal said he wanted to “bring you the closeness, the presence and the blessing of the Holy Father Francis" - who, Parolin said, “is following your situation with so much attention, with so much worry and so much pain.”

The meeting in the Cathedral was a moment to share that pain, Cardinal Parolin added.

Earlier, the local Catholc bishop had lit a candle in memory of those who have died in the war with Ukraine.

Cardinal Parolin said it was important to remember “the pain of those who have lost their loved ones, those who have been injured ... and of those who are mourning the destruction of property, who have been forced to leave and find refuge elsewhere.”

However, the cardinal noted, the encounter was also a moment for the sharing of hope.

“As Christians, we should not lose hope,” Parolin stressed — and that includes, he said, the hope that, “by the grace of the Lord, who is able to touch even the hardest of hearts … a way to a just peace can be found.”

Cardinal Parolin expressed his hope that this visit — like Cardinal Zuppi's diplomatic mission to Ukraine last year — would “make a small contribution toward the building of peace in this land”.

As well as the meeting at Odessa's Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption, Cardinal Parolin also visited the city's Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration — which was severely damaged last year in a Russian missile attack — and the Greek-Catholic Parish of St Michael. 

This article has been republished with permission from Vatican News.

Joseph Tulloch is a writer and journalist based in Rome.