Archbishop Broglio calls for ‘courageous negotiations’ over Ukraine in first Lenten message

John Lavenburg/Crux• March 4, 2025

Archbishop Timothy Broglio has called for “courageous negotiations” to secure peace in Ukraine in an echo of sentiments previously expressed by Pope Francis.

The comments by the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) come in a new Lenten reflection, which marks a first for the archbishop, published just a few days after a tense interaction between President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

“As we begin the holy Season of Lent, a time of prayer, penance and charity, we join our Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his solidarity with the ‘martyred people of Ukraine’,” said Broglio, who is also the archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services in the US. “We pray and hope that the United States, in concert with the wider international community, works with perseverance for a just peace and an end to aggression.”

“As our Holy Father reminded us in 2024, courageous negotiations require ‘boldness’ to ‘open the door’ for dialogue,” said Broglio.

The Lenten reflection is a first for Broglio as USCCB president, a role he was elected to in November 2022. Last year and in 2023, the USCCB just reiterated Pope Francis’s Lenten message, while also announcing its annual Ash Wednesday collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

In his Lenten message, Broglio also pleaded for the respect of Ukrainians’ religious freedom.

“As Catholics, we are acutely aware that every past occupation of Ukraine has resulted in various degrees of repression of the Catholic Church in the country; we must not tolerate the forcing of our brothers and sisters underground again,” Broglio said in the reflection, published March 3. 

“I echo Pope Francis’ plea for respecting the religious freedom of all Ukrainians, ‘Please, let no Christian church be abolished directly or indirectly. Churches are not to be touched!’”

The tense interaction between Trump and Vance with Zelensky, which occurred in the Oval Office on Feb. 28 with news cameras rolling, both shocked and surprised the international community. Zelenskyy has since said he is still ready to sign the minerals deal that the sides had agreed to but tabled after the argument.

Then, however, on March 2, Zelensky said that a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “is still very, very far away”, to which Trump responded, “what are they thinking” in a social media post.

The USCCB did not immediately respond to a Crux request on the reason for this year’s reflection.

To close the message, Broglio highlighted the importance of Catholics praying and sacrificing for Ukraine this Lenten season. The message also announced the continuation of the conference’s annual Ash Wednesday collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

“By contributing to this collection, Catholics in the United States can be assured that their assistance will directly help their struggling brothers and sisters in Ukraine, as well as in over twenty other countries in the region,” Broglio said.

“I invite America’s Catholics, in union with all men and women of good will, to pray for the peace of Ukraine, and to contribute generously to assisting that suffering and courageous nation,” he said.

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Photo: Archbishop Timothy Broglio (screenshot from Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA @MilArchUSA).