During his visit to Ukraine, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin met with Head of Lviv Regional State Administration Oleh Syniutka.

Syniutka thanked Cardinal Parolina for the support of Ukraine and stressed that the visit of such a high ranking Vatican's representative is extremely important both for the region and for Ukraine as a whole, the press service of Lviv Regional Administration reported on Saturday.

"Your role is currently very important, because at present Ukrainians need not only humanitarian assistance but also spiritual support," the press service quoted Syniutka as saying.

The Lviv regional governor conveyed the invitation to the Pope to visit Lviv region.

For his turn, Cardinal Parolin said that the focus of his visit is the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The Vatican state secretary said he is trying to reach out to people who are in the combat zone and on the occupied territories that they will not be left alone with their problems.

Cardinal Parolin also spoke about the humanitarian initiative "Pope for Ukraine", which started with the collection of donations in all Catholic churches. "This is the initiative of Pope Francis, which has newly awakened the interest of Catholics around the world in the problems of Ukraine, because we do not want this conflict to become another forgotten conflict," the press service of Lviv Regional State Administration quoted Cardinal Parolin as saying.

After the meeting, the secretary of state of the Vatican conducted a mass in the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Lviv.

Parolin visits Lviv on June 18-19.