Cardinal Kurt Koch proposes to set up a commission to reconcile the UGCC and ROC

President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch has proposed to establish a special commission to settle all misunderstandings between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

This idea cardinal announced on February 12 at Fribourg University (Switzerland) at the anniversary meeting dedicated to the anniversary of the Havana meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of the ROC.

According to the Cardinal, this special committee could deal with healing the wounds of the past and creation of a common future.

“As for the painful situation in Ukraine, especially in the aspect of relations of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, I believe that one of the fruits of the Havana meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill can and should be a return to dialogue on many levels.

At the historical level, it seems necessary to cooperate for the purification of memory, which undoubtedly will be hard and take a long time, given the wounds of the past, both on one and the other side. Without memory healing it is difficult to imagine a common future,” Cardinal Koch was quoted as saying by Vatican Radio.

President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said that the parties should talk about real issues which, in his opinion, are probably related rather to national and political issues than theological ones, to find solutions that will help in mutual coexistence.

The ROC was represented at the anniversary meeting in Fribourg University by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

As reported, on February 12, 2016, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church met in Havana, which resulted in the signing of a joint declaration.