The Polish Pope’s Perspectives on Ukraine in Europe

The author analyzes the issue of the “European message” that the Polish Pope John Paul II sent to Ukraine in June 2001 during his memorable apostolic visit to Kiev and Lviv. It was the first-ever pilgrimage of a Roman pope to Ukraine, and so far the last. The author also emphasizes the merits of Professor Ryszard Łuzhny for promoting this papal, ecumenical and humanistic vision of Europe, of which Ukraine should also be an integral part. The messages of John Paul II today may seem utopian and irrevocably
belonging to the past, but the author expresses his deep conviction that soon they will gain even more power, appropriate to the huge challenges that Ukraine, Europe and the whole world will face the day after this terrible Russia’s war against Ukraine.