‘A people’s survival is at stake’: What Ukrainians seek in a new pope

In Ukraine, there is hope for a new pontiff in the mold of John Paul II.

In Ukraine, perceptions of Pope Francis’ pontificate seesawed between initial enthusiasm and subsequent disappointment, even resentment.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on Feb. 8, 2020, before Russia’s full-scale invasion. President.gov.ua via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0).

Ukrainians welcomed Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergogl…