WE SENSE THAT YOU CAME TO VISIT NOT THE ORTHODOX ONLY BUT ALL UKRAINIANS, - HIS BEATITUDE SVIATOSLAV TO HIS-ALL HOLINESS PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW

                      

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations chaired by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the UGCC met with His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, Patriarch of Constantinople, who on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence is staying with an official visit in Ukraine. The meeting took place at Kyiv Theological Academy on August 23, 2021.

The Head of the UGCC gave a brief presentation on the history and ways AUCCRO perform and thanked the Patriarch for paying constant attention to Ukraine.

“During Your visit you commemorated our heroes, our soldiers who gave up their lives for independent Ukraine. You met with Crimean tatars, refugees from Crimea in order to feel their pain. And today we have this opportunity to tell you about a vast religious life in Ukraine and we sense that you came to visit not the Orthodox only but all Ukrainians, notwithstanding their ethnical and confessional identity”, the head of the UGCC emphasized.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that Patriarch Bartholomew cares for ecology and environmental protection on the international level. “Ukraine is marked with a tragedy of Chornobyl catastrophe and we especially feel that environmental issues take a central position today for all humanity and religious community in particular”, added the chairman of AUCCRO.

The Ecumenical Patriarch in his speech emphasized necessity of inter-religious dialogue in the modern world also stating that for him it is an honor to belong to members of AUCCRO who jointly symbolize a hope of Ukraine. He stated that an essential background of an effective dialogue is hidden in mutual trust.

Greeting His Holiness Patriarch, His Beatitude Sviatoslav on behalf of the whole Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church underlined that the Church in Constantinople is a Mother church to Ukraine. “We, being a Church born in terms of Prince Volodymyr’s baptism, thank you for the light of Christ’s Gospel which was granted to us here, in Ukraine. With gratitude we carry and expand this Gospel. Thank you for the opportunity to meet up and I hope that a dialogue and collaboration will be advancing”, said the Head of the UGCC.