The head of the UGCC addressed a video greeting to the members of the World Congress of Ukrainians on the occasion of the annual general meeting, which was held online on October 23, 2021.
Source: UGCC Information Department
The head of the Church thanked the World Congress of Ukrainians for countless good deeds for the Ukrainian community scattered around the world, and for cooperation with the Mother Church in the name of the good of the Ukrainian people.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav drew attention to the fact that during the past year, the members of the UWC have done a lot of work and put a lot of effort, and as a result, there is a lot to thank God and people for, in particular for the common project, the Common year of work.
The head of the UGCC congratulated all members and the team of the World Congress of Ukrainians headed by the president. Therefore, he wished: "May the Lord God bless all your efforts and initiatives. Let him send many more good thoughts, good people, and resources so that we can unite the world Ukrainian community in the name of God and Ukraine and build the Ukrainian world in recent times. I congratulate you and wish you God's blessing."
During the Annual General Meeting, members of the World Congress of Ukrainians summed up their activities for the period October 2020 – September 2021 and developed their activities for the next period.
As RISU reported, the UWC and the UGCC are jointly engaged in social service, helping the neediest – those people who lost their livelihoods in those circumstances. They are also jointly looking for new methods of church and social activities, ways to gather and unite people in the new circumstances of the pandemic and quarantine.
World Congress of Ukrainians also performs systematic work regarding the recognition of the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people in the world.
In April 2019, the World Congress of Ukrainians called on the Pope to talk to Putin about ending Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
UWC unites 20 million Ukrainians in 133 countries around the world. The organization was founded in 1967 in New York under the name World Congress of Free Ukrainians (WCFU). In 1993, the name was changed to the modern one — the Ukrainian World Congress. The purpose of the association is to help the Ukrainian people in their competitions for freedom and state independence and coordinate the activities of their members. In 2003, the UWC was recognized as a non-governmental organization with special consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The main goals and objectives of the UWC are to:
1. represent the interests of Ukrainians in the diaspora;
2. coordinate the international connection of its constituent organizations that support and develop the Ukrainian national identity, spirit, language, culture and heritage of Ukrainians around the world;
3. promote the development of the civil society of Ukrainians in their countries of residence and at the same time strengthen a positive attitude towards Ukrainians and the Ukrainian state;
4. protect the rights of Ukrainians regardless of their place of residence in accordance with the Universal Declaration of human rights.