Pope may visit Ukraine in August 2022 - Vatican

ROME. July 11 (Interfax) - The Vatican does not rule out that Pope Francis may visit the Vatican in August 2022, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, said.

"The Pope is very convinced that if he were to make a visit it would have positive results," Gallagher said on Italian RAI 1 television, specifying that preparations for the visit to Kyiv may start after the pontiff's visit to Canada, which is scheduled for late July.

"Yes, I think that upon returning from Canada we will begin to really study the possibility," the archbishop said. Responding to a question as to whether the visit to Ukraine may take place in August, he said: "Possibly, I wouldn't rule it out. However, a lot depends on the results of the trip to Canada. Let's see how the Pope withstandas this trip, which is also very demanding, and then we'll see."

Speaking about the progress on the issue of the pope's visit to Moscow, Gallagher said that contacts between the Vatican and Russia are now "rather institutional through the Apostolic Nuncio in Moscow and through the Russian Ambassador here at the Holy See." "Beyond that there are not many direct or personal contacts," he said.