Contacts between the
Holy See and the rulers of
Ukraine were intermittent and of little consequence before the modern era. The
Western Ukrainian People's Republic, created in November 1918, had diplomatic relations with the Holy See before it was annexed to
Poland after eight months.
Pope Benedict XV received its ambassador, Count Mykhailo Tyshkevych, in May 1919 and the pope in turn named Fr. Giovanni Genocchi his apostolic visitator in Ukraine on 23 February 1920. Genocci returned to Rome in December 1921 once the Bolshevik offensive made his continued presence in Ukraine untenable. The Holy See and Ukraine established diplomatic relations on 8 February 1992, and
Pope John Paul II issued the brief «Ucrainam Nationem» that founded the Apostolic Nunciature to Ukraine that same day. During the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the nunciature was damaged following a Russian air attack on 10 July 2025. == Apostolic Nuncios ==