During the presentation of the Ukrainian translation of the book “The Ecumenical Mission of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Europe Today”, which took place on August 30 in the Metropolitan Chambers of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, emphasized the important role of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the ecumenical movement and the promotion of the development of the subjectivity of Kyivan Christianity.
This was reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
“The Apostolic See in Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarchate welcomed the development of the subjectivity of Kyivan Christianity and contributed to it. And what did Moscow do? “It waged war on us, taking away our right to exist,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav recalled, ”Yet in the third year of this brutal war, the voice of the Kyivan Churches, both the Orthodox and the UGCC, is resounding powerfully throughout the world."
Among the important events of 2019, the Head of the UGCC mentioned his meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch, which took place on September 16, 2019, at St. Martha's House in the Vatican. According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, His All-Holiness “explained on a one-on-one basis why he decided to grant the Tomos of Autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox.”
“That meeting was a truly spiritual event for me,” said the Head of the UGCC.
At the meeting, he presented the Ecumenical Patriarch with a facsimile edition of the Galician Gospel of 1144, the oldest of the precisely dated Slavic manuscript gospels.
“I want to express my deep gratitude for the way Patriarch Bartholomew sees the role and place of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in our ecumenical mission in Europe. Not only does he recognize it, but our Church rejoices in it,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.
Commenting on the photo on the cover of the book “The Ecumenical Mission of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Europe Today” (in the photo, the Head of the UGCC talks with Patriarch Bartholomew during his visit to Kyiv in 2023), His Beatitude Sviatoslav explained that it symbolizes the further development of the dialogue, “which heals the wounds between the Orthodox in Ukraine, the wounds between the Orthodox and Catholics, the wounds between Christians of different denominations.”
“For true, sincere ecumenism is a true blessing of God. It is the fulfillment of the commandments of Christ,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.
As reported previously, on August 30, 2024, the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, presented a Ukrainian translation of the book “The Ecumenical Mission of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Europe Today” from the Italian original materials of the Meeting of Eastern Catholic Bishops of Europe, which took place in Rome on September 12-14, 2019.