The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has signed a decree on awarding the Order of Merit to the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Pope Francis’ special envoy for peace in Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Dzupi.
Inese Steinert – Vatican
According to the decree, the order is awarded “for a significant personal contribution to strengthening cooperation between countries, for supporting national sovereignty and territorial integration of Ukraine, as well as for spreading the name of the Ukrainian state in the world.”
In the past days, Zelenskiy and Pope Francis had a telephone conversation, during which the President of Ukraine thanked the Holy Father “for the spiritual support of the Ukrainian people” and for “joint work on the Peace Formula”.
The Order of Merit was founded on September 22, 1996 by the then President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma. It is awarded for a significant contribution in the economic, scientific, cultural, military or political fields. The order can also be awarded posthumously. So far, the recipients include Lithuanian Presidents Valdas Adamkus and Dalia Gribauskaite, Kuwaiti Emir Saba IV Ahmad Al Jaber Al Saba, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Swiss politician Andreas Aebi, Italian diplomat Vittorio Claudio Surdo and orchestra director Riccardo Muti.
2023-12-30 16:51:17
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