Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas met with His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and all Ukraine on February 21.
This is reported by the press service of the Kyiv Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU).
The meeting was also attended by Metropolitan Yevstratiy, deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, and Monsignor Yosef Maramreddi, First Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature.
The head of the OCU thanked Archbishop Kulbokas for his help in organizing the visit of the delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to the Vatican.
"We have good impressions of this visit, and many fruitful meetings were held that will be useful for Ukraine and the development of our bilateral relations," Metropolitan Epifaniy said.
The meeting participants discussed a wide range of issues related to countering Russian aggression in Ukraine, the religious situation in our country in general, and inter-Orthodox relations in particular. The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine stressed the need to protect the Ukrainian spiritual space from hostile Kremlin manipulations carried out in the spirit of the ideology of the "Russian World".
"We support the desire of the Ukrainian state to protect our fellow citizens and religious freedom from the hybrid influence of Russian propaganda, of which, unfortunately, the Russian Church has also become a tool. This is not a ban on religion, but rather a ban on Russian religious centers that are controlled by the Putin administration to have influence on religious organizations in Ukraine," the Primate stressed.
The Primate of the OCU stressed the importance of prayer for the victory of truth and peace in Ukraine, as the contribution of all believers of the world to the approaching end of the war.
"In Rome, we had the opportunity to pray in front of the revered Icon of the Theotokos "Salvation of the Roman people", for peace for Ukraine. Pope Francis also repeatedly called on the faithful to pray for Ukraine and for our suffering people. We believe that through our prayers, God will bring closer the end of the war, victory for Ukraine, and a just peace," Metropolitan Epifaniy said.
The meeting participants agreed to continue bilateral cooperation.