His Beatitude Sviatoslav: UGCC calls for official dialogue with OCU

The Head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, said this in an interview with Radio Liberty.

“We really want to begin this dialogue. And from the first moment of the unification council (of the OCU), which took place in St. Sophia, we have been seeking this communication. We were the first to proffer our hand. We want to hold dialogue, and we are working on it,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

“The so-called mixed Orthodox-Catholic theological commission has existed for many years between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which has been conducting this ecumenical dialogue, trying to decide whether to harmonize positions on a number of dogmatic and canonical issues. Many of these agreements are not even known in Ukraine,” adds the Head of the UGCC.

He expressed his understanding that “the unification of the Orthodox in Ukraine” now may be the OCU's priority.

“It is very important that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate today, is gradually recognized by all other Local Orthodox Churches. I think this is very important for our Orthodox brothers,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.

In December 2022, the heads of the UGCC and the OCU discussed the possibility of creating a joint working group to study the reform of the church calendar. This initiative is aimed at coordinating the transition to a new calendar in the context of preparations for the commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which will be celebrated in 2025.

In October 2024, His Beatitude Sviatoslav paid an official visit to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. They discussed issues of ecumenical dialogue and cooperation. As a manifestation of the ecumenical dialogue, on December 24, 2024, the seminarians of the UGCC and the OCU recorded a joint carol, “A New Joy Has Come!” for the first time.