From a Hospital Bed, Pope Leo XIV Calls Putin to Plead for Civilians in Oleshky

Three days after lung cancer surgery, Pope Leo XIV picked up the telephone from his room at Rome's Gemelli Hospital and called Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conversation took place on October 16, 2026, and the Vatican confirmed it in a note to the press.

The Holy Father had one request: a ceasefire so that food and medical aid could reach Oleshky, a city in Ukraine's Kherson region, and so that civilians who wish to leave could do so safely. Oleshky lies in a front-line zone where, according to Ukrainian religious leaders, residents have been cut off from supplies for months. Those leaders had appealed to the Pope and other faith leaders in September to intervene.

The Vatican said Leo XIV also reaffirmed the Holy See's commitment to dialogue and peace. According to the Kremlin, as reported by Reuters, the call was constructive, Putin wished the Pope a speedy recovery, and both sides agreed to cooperate on delivering aid. The Kremlin also blamed Kyiv for the situation in the city, a claim Ukraine rejects.

It was the second conversation between the two men since the Pope's election, after one in June 2025. The same day, Leo XIV issued a World Food Day message declaring access to sufficient food a basic human right.

The gesture says something about this pontificate: a Pope recovering from major surgery who still spends his strength on people he has never met. For those trapped in Oleshky, what matters now is whether words become convoys.

Sources: Holy See Press Office, via America Magazine and National Catholic Reporter; Reuters (Kremlin account). Photo: Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.