ROME – On Friday, Vatican Secretary of State Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin began a 6-day visit to Ukraine to close a popular Marian pilgrimage, and to meet with high-level civil and ecclesial authorities amid the Holy See’s continued push for peace.

Parolin’s July 19-24 trip to Ukraine marks his first official visit since Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine, and the full-on war it sparked. He had previously visited Ukraine in June 2016, and he also attended events in Kyiv related to the 30th anniversary of the restoration of Ukrainian independence in August 2021.

While in Ukraine, Parolin is expected to meet with the Latin bishops of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lviv and he will travel to the southern port city of Odessa, a key point of strategic interest amid the ongoing war with Russia.

A port city on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine, Odessa is a strategic city for Ukraine and, given its location, it has been a prime target of Russian shelling and airstrikes since the beginning of the war in 2022. The city came under heavy Russian fire in the spring and is still a target of regular attacks, with Russia in recent weeks resuming drone and missile attacks in the area.

What exactly Parolin will do in Odessa and which people and organizations he is expected to meet with were not included in his schedule, which was published Friday on the Secretariat of State’s page on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

On July 21, Parolin was scheduled to celebrate the closing Mass for the annual pilgrimage to famed Marian shrine of Berdychiv in the Zhytomyr region, the largest Catholic Shrine of Latin rite in Ukraine, where he will honor the icon of the Mother of God.

The pilgrimage every year draws some 4,000 faithful from across the country and also from abroad. For the past two years, pilgrims have come particularly to pray for peace.

Run by Discalced Carmelites, the shrine was originally founded as a monastery that was opened in 1630, and for which a special icon of the Mother of God Snizhna (Our Lady of the Snows) was painted. Veneration to the icon rapidly spread, and soon believers began flocking to the monastery in large numbers.

Many testified to receiving special graces after praying at the monastery through the intercession of Mary, and on May 23, 1647, the Latin bishop of Kyiv, Stanislav Zaremba, formally approved the devotion and veneration of the icon as the Mother of God of Berdychiv.

The sanctuary received the status of a national shrine after approval from the bishops’ conference on Oct. 27, 2011.

In a July 13 letter to Parolin on his attendance of the closing Mass for the annual pilgrimage, Pope Francis said, “All participants in this event will be encouraged to implore the Queen of Peace with fervent prayers to end the war in Ukraine and in all parts of the world and to set forth the example of” the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Parolin’s task, he said, would be to show “benevolence and closeness in this difficult time for all the people of the beloved Ukraine.”

During his trip to Ukraine, Parolin is also expected to visit the Greek Catholic cathedral of Kyiv, and he will also hold a meeting with Greek Ukrainian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

The Greek Catholic bishops of Ukraine recently concluded their July 2-12 Synod of Bishops, held in Zarvanytsia, where they discussed a variety of issues both related to the war and not.

Parolin before leaving will also meet with various Ukrainian civil and religious authorities, however, other than Shevchuk, the Vatican has not specified who those authorities will be, and whether Parolin will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy in the past has been hesitant to accept the Vatican’s repeated offers at negotiation, insisting that any peace plan must be on Ukrainian terms.

While continuing to pray for peace and to assist in negotiations, the Vatican and Pope Francis have been engaging various world leaders at the humanitarian level with the aid of Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, also president of the Italian Bishops Conference.

Zuppi last year was tapped as Pope Francis’s personal peace envoy to Ukraine, and in that capacity made visits last year to Kyiv, Moscow, Washington DC, and Beijing, meeting with top government and religious officials.

Most of the Vatican’s efforts thus far have focused on humanitarian aid and assisting in the return of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia, as well as negotiation prisoner swaps.

Ukrainians have long plead with the Vatican for a papal trip to Ukraine, arguing that if Pope Francis came, the war would end. However, Francis has repeatedly insisted that he would not visit without also stopping in Moscow, as the Holy See traditionally maintains neutrality in global conflicts.

Accompanying Parolin on his trip are two priests, one of whom is Father Ruslan Mykhalkiv, rector of the Seminary of the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomir, and Father Andriy Lehovich, secretary of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen