Designer from Lviv region presented Pope Francis with a personalized vyshyvanka

This happened on June 17 during the general audience in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

Галина Шуневич (третя ліворуч) із подарунком для Папи Лева

25 June, 17:38

Halyna Shunévych personally handed over the personalized shirt to Pope Leo XIV. This happened on June 17 during the general audience in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, reported Vatican News.

Ukrainian craftswoman Halyna Shunévych creates original vyshyvankas, which are now worn by 19 world leaders. Her project "Vyshyvanka for the President" was born in the spring of 2022 from a simple desire to thank foreign figures for their support of Ukraine. The project quickly gained momentum. Today, 19 world leaders already have Ukrainian vyshyvankas. Among them are the presidents of Lithuania and Latvia, the head of Estonia, former Polish President Andrzej Duda, former Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová, Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau, Canada's Minister of Migration, Chrystia Freeland, former Prime Minister of Japan, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And, of course, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has two vyshyvankas from the craftswoman – a white one and a black one.

Halyna Shunévych was born in the town of Staryi Sambir in the Lviv region. She received her first education at Lviv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in "systems engineer," and later obtained a second degree in law. The idea for this project, according to the designer, was born very simply – in April 2022 in the kitchen while watching news about Boris Johnson's arrival in Kyiv by train.

On Wednesday, June 17, Halyna Shunеvych managed to meet with Pope Leo XIV and present him with an embroidered shirt. After lengthy negotiations and contacts, thanks to the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, the craftswoman managed to come to the Vatican to personally hand over the gift.

For Pope Leo XIV, the designer created a personalized shirt with a stand-up collar, silver cufflinks with the Ukrainian trident, and the embroidered inscription "Pope Leo XIV" on the sleeve. For each embroidered shirt, she prepares a textile business card – she embroiders a souvenir heart, on one side of which the names of two countries are embroidered (e.g., "Vatican – Ukraine"), and on the other side – she leaves her contacts. For the Pope's shirt, Halyna Shunеvych also wrote a personal letter, where she spoke about her mission, the project, and thanked him for his prayers for Ukraine.

"I made a special shirt for the Pope because I studied his style from photos, looked at the shirts he wears and how they are made. Therefore, his vyshyvanka is made with long sleeves, with cuffs for cufflinks. I embroidered his name in English on the cuff" — said the designer in a comment to the Lviv Manufacturing News.

Halyna Shunevych has a principled stance: not to remain passive, but to act for the sake of common victory. She is convinced that everyone has to work on their own front, and creating embroidered shirts is her personally important contribution.

We remind you that in the Lviv region initiate an official appeal to the President of Ukraine with a proposal to invite the Pope to an apostolic visit. This event should become a symbolic continuation of the spiritual dialogue initiated a quarter of a century ago.