There is one Church of Christ, which cannot be divided by borders, the Head of the UGCC

26.12.2020, 15:30

When we address our church issues or try to organize our own church life, we must be aware that Christ's Church is universal because Christ founded one Church ... And to emphasize the importance of the universal communion of our Kyivan Christianity with brothers and sisters - Orthodox, Catholics from all over the world - is the mission of the UGCC. His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, said this during a program on the Ukraine-24 TV channel, answering the interviewer's questions about inter-church relations.

Source: The UGCC Department for Information

Commenting in the program "Hard with Vlashchenko" on receiving the Tomos by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Head of the UGCC noted "these are the internal circumstances of the Orthodox brothers." However, he argued that the attempt to break out of church isolation, to engage in communion with world Orthodoxy, is completely natural and positive.

"Every time the Ecumenical Patriarch speaks of the importance of commemorating the victims of the Holodomor and the horror of this crime against humanity, directing his voice to the world Christian community, we all feel grateful for this type of message."

Also, important and worthy of gratitude, according to the Head of the UGCC, is the fact that the world Orthodoxy is becoming more and more aware that the Ukrainian people exist as an original nation with its millennial culture.

According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the year of 2020, with its isolation, closed borders, and the introduction of strict quarantine rules by various states, showed that Christians cannot think only locally. According to him, it is necessary to act locally and think globally.

“Even as we resolve our church issues, as we try to organize our church life, we must be aware that the Church of Christ is universal, that our church life cannot separate itself from the universal Church because Christ founded one Church. There is one Church of Christ. It cannot be divided by borders," said the Primate of the UGCC.

His Beatitude added that this year “we felt that the mission of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, now, more than ever, is to emphasize the importance of universal communion of our Kyiv Christianity with brothers and sisters - Orthodox, Catholics from around the world."

Following Pope Francis, the Head of the UGCC reiterated that we now feel that we are all in the same boat. All Christians today are experiencing the global changes that are taking place with the new post-coronavirus world. According to him, we should go through these changes together.

Tags: #Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) #Bartholomew I