Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said that Pope Francis has “very low approval numbers” in Ukraine—creating problems for Catholics there.
“Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Holy Father was the most respected religious representative in Ukraine,” the Major Archbishop said at a press conference in Rome on September 14. “Toward the end of last year his popularity plummeted to very low approval numbers. This is a great problem for the Church in Ukraine.”