Andriy Yurash became Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Vatican

Biography (wiki): Andriy Vasylyovych Yurash (born on January 17, 1969; Shpola, Cherkasy region) — Ukrainian religious scholar, political scientist, an expert in state-church relations, sociology and geography of religion, Eastern Christian tradition, state ethnopolitics, rights of national minorities; associate professor of Ivan Franko Lviv National University and Mykhailo Dragomanov National Pedagogical University, director of the Department of Religious and Ethnic Affairs of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine (2014-2020).

He graduated with honors in 1992 from the Faculty of Journalism of the Ivan Franko Lviv National University.

On December 1, 1992, he was enrolled as a trainee teacher at the Department of Theory and Practice of Journalism. Since 1995, he has been transferred to the position of assistant of the same department.

From 1993 to 1996, he served as deputy dean of the Faculty of Journalism for educational work. Since September 1, 1999, he has been working at the Department of radio broadcasting and television.

In 1996, he joined the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Since 1997, he has been a member of the All-Ukrainian Association of Religious Scholars (since 2007 - a member of the management board), became one of the founders of the International Association for the study of religion in Central and Eastern Europe (ISORECEA).

Pursuant to the decree of the head of the Presidential Secretariat of Ukraine dated March 9, 2006, he was appointed a member of the Working Group on Religious Freedom under the President of Ukraine.

In November 2014, he was appointed Director of the Department of Religious and Ethnic Affairs of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine (he led it until its liquidation in 2020).

In September 2020, he came to lead the Department of Religious Affairs of the Cabinet of Ministers Secretariat.