On April 20th, Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), UGCC Head, and Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), Archbishop Emeritus, met with First Vice-Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Karel Schwarzenberg.
On April 20th, Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), UGCC Head, and Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), Archbishop Emeritus, met with First Vice-Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Karel Schwarzenberg.
During his first visit to Ukraine, the Czech Minister expressed his strong desire to meet with the UGCC Head since he was well aware of the witness of faith by the UGCC during its underground period. He personally assisted the persecuted churches of Central and Eastern Europe during the Communist era. Now, as a highly-placed government official of the Czech Republic government, he attempts to learn more about the current life and activities of the churches in post-socialist countries.
At the meeting, the Minister was accompanied by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Ukraine Ivan Pochuh and embassy staff. Their discussion centered on an exchange of thoughts on socio-political developments in Ukraine, Church-State relations, and ecumenical activity of the UGCC in Ukraine.
Karel Shwarzenberg will also visit Lviv where he will meet with representatives of the local administration and UGCC hierarchy, in particular with Bishop Venedykt (Aleksiychuk), Auxiliary Bishop of the Lviv Archeparchy.
At the conclusion of the meeting Patriarch Sviatoslav presented to the guest a photographic album and a disk of sermons of his first year of service.