AUCCRO to be led by RCC Bishop Kryvytskyi

During the on-site meeting in Jerusalem March 7, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations elected Vitaliy Kryvytskyi, the Ordinary of the Kyiv-Zhytomyr Diocese. The predecessor of Bishop Vitaliy in this post was the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine Yaakov Dov Bleich, CREDO reports. It was on his initiative that the official delegation of the AUCCRO visited the state of Israel for the second time.

During the meeting, the participants discussed a number of important issues concerning Ukraine, as well as further initiatives aimed at developing friendly Ukrainian-Israeli relations. Members of the AUCCRO also paid special attention to the state of relations between the state and representatives of various church communities and decided to write a separate address in this regard. The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations recalled its position regarding the need for fair and just elections, as expressed earlier in the Appeal to the Ukrainian people concerning the election of the President of Ukraine. Members of the AUCCRO renewed the assurances of loyalty to the constitutional principle of separation of the church (religious organizations) from the state without any preference or discrimination. At the same time, AUCCRO called for the construction of state-confessional relations on the partnership basis.