Patriarch Sviatoslav tells the Pope about potential unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and the attitude of UGCC towards this process
Today, in the Vatican, His Beatitude Sviatoslav met with Pope Francis. The meeting took place at the initiative and at the request of the Head of the UGCC on the occasion of the commemoration of the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine, the website of the Kyiv Archdiocese of the UGCC has reported citing the Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav paid special attention to the relations of the UGCC with other Churches that are heirs of St Volodymyr’s Baptism. He told the Holy Father about the painful divisions between the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine and the “shameful facts of the instrumentalization of the Holy Sacraments”, in particular the Holy Baptism, to humiliate or deny the Christian identity of the faithful of certain denominations.”
According to the Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome, during this conversation, His Beatitude Sviatoslav once again expressed to the Holy Father the position of the UGCC concerning the negotiations between the Orthodox Churches and the Patriarchate of Constantinople in healing divisions and unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy:
“We are positively evaluating the efforts aimed at overcoming the split in Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Simultaneously, we consider these processes as an internal affair of the Orthodox side and in no case we interfere with these processes, neither do we participate in their development. We are convinced that secular authorities should ensure necessary conditions for unobstructed development of all churches in our state and it is inadmissible on their part to treat any Church as a state church,” the Head of the UGCC emphasized.
