October 21, 2021 upon request of the Head of the UGCC a meeting between His Beatitude Sviatoslav and Denys Shmyhal was held at Ukrainian Government Building.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav thanked Prime Minister for his consideration and tributes he paid to newly erected monuments to Fr. Omelian Kovch in Lublin and His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar in Vinnytsia.
Further on they discussed all relevant issues occurring in Ukraine. First and foremost they spoke about a current situation of spread of Corona virus, and it was agreed that vaccination is the only effective way to protect ourselves and our families.
The sides also brought up tariffs for Churches and religious organizations. Prime Minister assured the Head of the Church that he had taken into consideration an appeal made by AUCCRO and they would receive a response soon.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav told about his recent visit to Hungary during what Hungarian government promised to grant a land to build a church, school and a kindergarten. Hence the Head of the Church informed Denys Shmyhal about his intention to foster contacts in Hungary.
They also discussed needs of Ukrainian community in Poland, particularly pastoral care and necessity to have a land to build a church for Ukrainians in Poland.
Last but not least, they discussed a problem of surrogacy. The sides agreed on defending dignity of both a woman and a child as soon as a working group on regulating this problem by the State in order to enact the law on regulation of surrogacy.
At the end it was noted that Prime Minister is open to new meetings with a religious community of Ukraine, AUCCRO in particular.