Vatican Secretary of State led a memorial mass for victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine

The service commenced at 4 p.m. in one of Rome's largest churches – the Church of Saint Andrew (Sant’Andrea della Valle, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II). It was presided over by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, alongside Bishop Dionysius Lyakhovych, the Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Italy, and with the participation of a significant number of clergy.

As informed by the Embassy of Ukraine to the Holy See, the event welcomed heads and representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, as well as abbots and abbesses of monastic communities in Rome, friends of Ukraine from Italy’s political, artistic, and business circles, and the sizable Ukrainian community in Rome and Italy.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta, Andriy Yurash, invited everyone to "join in this exceptionally important prayer, which will be conducted at the highest level in the heart of the Christian world's capital, commemorating the innocent victims of this tragedy – one of the most horrific genocides perpetrated by the godless Soviet-Russian totalitarian regime."