The Head of the UGCC: At the Pontifical Synod, together with the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, we testify to the common tradition of the Kyivan Church

This was reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.

In his speech on October 16, Metropolitan Job Getcha of Pisidia emphasized that he is participating in the Synod “as a fraternal delegate from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.” He conveyed to the Synodal Fathers the greetings of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who “follows your progress on the synodal path with great interest and prays for its good completion.”

Fraternal delegates are participants in the Pontifical Synod who represent other Churches. They are not members of the Synod and do not have the right to vote.

Commenting on the participation of the delegation of the Mother Church of Constantinople in the Pontifical Synod, the Head of the UGCC said: “Together with the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in various working groups, we testify to the common theological, liturgical, canonical and spiritual traditions of the Kyivan Church.”

His Beatitude Sviatoslav also stated that during the Synod, the hierarchs of the UGCC have the opportunity to “discuss the religious and interfaith situation in Ukraine and further prospects for dialogue and cooperation between our churches.”

In his speech, Metropolitan Job Getcha, as co-chairman of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, noted that the topic of synodality and primacy has been the subject of study of the Joint Commission for the past twenty years. He recalled the three main documents on this topic, which were agreed in 2007 in Ravenna, in 2016 in Chieti and in 2023 in Alexandria.

The representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate also noted the new document of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, “The Bishop of Rome. Primacy and Synodality in Ecumenical Dialogues and in Responses to the Encyclical Ut unum sint”. “This revolutionary document,” he emphasized, ”demonstrates a remarkable convergence of all bilateral dialogues on the ministry of the Bishop of Rome and reveals a true kairos in our ecumenical journey, which can serve the search for Christian unity and enrich our mutual understanding of primacy and synodality.

“I am deeply convinced that all these documents can make a great contribution not only to the rapprochement between our churches but also to the synodal conversion of all our churches,” concluded Metropolitan Job Getcha, inviting all members of the Pontifical Synod to familiarize themselves with said documents.

As reported previously, the delegates of the UGCC to the Pontifical Synod on synodality are the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Apostolic Exarch in Germany and Scandinavia Bohdan Dziurakh, and Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ternopil-Zboriv Teodor Martyniuk.