For the heads of states and global leaders, it is crucial to hear the voice of the Ukrainian people. And we speak not on behalf of any political structure but on behalf of our faithful.
This was stated by the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in an interview with the online publication "Ukrainska Pravda," as reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
The Head of the Church emphasized that the UGCC is a global community that extends beyond the boundaries of the Ukrainian diaspora worldwide.
"And therefore, we strive to engage all our contacts today to ensure that Ukraine prevails every day," he said.
As it historically happened, the spiritual leader reminded that the leaders of the UGCC were not only representatives of a purely ecclesiastical structure but also the voice of the Ukrainian people. The title of ethnarch was first bestowed upon our righteous Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. He was the embodiment of Ukrainian identity when we did not have our own state.
"Something similar was done in his service by Patriarch Josyf Slipyj during the Cold War when the Ukrainian people were in Soviet slavery... In this way, our church has a certain institutional memory of how to conduct international relations," he added.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav provided an example of a few months ago when he had the opportunity to meet with the heads of governments of various European countries: "I personally was in the premises of European structures at the moment when the European Commission announced its decision to start negotiations with Ukraine on our accession to the European Union. I cannot disclose details, but there were very interesting and useful meetings before and after this decision. You know, it was interesting to find out that we were at the same time in the same building with our Minister of Foreign Affairs, although we did not cross paths and did not see each other. But each of us was fulfilling our mission for the good of the Ukrainian people."
The Primate also emphasized that our partners, while listening to representatives of the Ukrainian government, want to hear and respond to them but always verify how well what the government says corresponds to reality.
The Head of the UGCC recalled his meeting with Mr. Giorgio Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy: "I understood that what the Ukrainian government says, it knows well. And it was interested in what the people are going through, what ordinary people think, how they see it."