“There can be no physical health without spiritual health. I fully support the proposal of the Primate of the OCU, His Beatitude Epiphaniy, to create a working group to study issues related to quarantine innovations for religious communities.” This was stated by Father and Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav during the meeting of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations with the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal’, which took place November 20, 2020.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav stressed that in difficult circumstances it is very important to talk about priorities - human life and health. "Money cannot be more valuable than human life. That is why we understand the various restrictions imposed by the Ukrainian state. However, we ask that before making such decisions, there be a space for communication and dialogue with the religious community as part of the working group,” said the Primate of the UGCC.
According to the Father and the Head of the UGCC, when it comes to the role and place of the Church or the religious environment in difficult circumstances, it is necessary to understand that one cannot have physical health without spiritual health. "Religious life is not just about holidays and worship. It is an opportunity for the Church to perform her ministry even in such difficult circumstances. This opportunity for people should be respected in the same way as access to pharmacies, especially during strict quarantine," he said.
The Primate of the UGCC offered to look to the future with hope, hoping for a vaccine that will really help protect people's lives and health. According to him, today Pope Francis is talking about the need for access to this vaccine for the weakest and most vulnerable. We cannot forget about socially unprotected people who will not be able to buy it.
Finally, the Head of the UGCC thanked the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine for the implementation of the second stage of the pension reform. "In our opinion, this is a very important thing. "For many years, our Church has been operating the Pokrova Non-State Pension Fund as one of the instruments for social protection that our Church offers to all those in need," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
It should be added that during the meeting, the Prime Minister called on the AUCCRO to unite efforts in the fight against COVID-19 during the winter holidays.
"Now we are approaching important winter religious holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, St. Nicholas, Epiphany and more. Therefore, we need to take joint measures to minimize the number of diseases," said the Prime Minister.