These dates remind us of themes of eternity, - His Beatitude Sviatoslav recalled three significant events of 2021 streaming live

They remind us of themes of eternity which return with these anniversaries, and which we seek to comprehend. Father and Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav announced on live TV at the end of the year, in which the Major Archbishop summarizes the results of the past year and shares his expectations for the upcoming one.

“Recalling the 75th anniversary of the notorious Lviv Pseudo-Council of 1946, during which our Church was officially liquidated and driven underground, it was finally revealed and documented that this Lviv Pseudo-Council was not a church event, but a completely modeled by the repressive machine of the USSR”, recalled His Beatitude Sviatoslav and added that distressfully we also saw many priests of our Church recruited by KGB agents who took part in that council. However, thanks to all studies, the event of the Lviv Pseudo-Council was reconsidered in the academic environment.

The second anniversary we celebrated this year is the 425th anniversary of the Brest Union. Recalling this event, the Head of the Church explained that the anniversary of the union prompted us to redefine very deep questions of church circles, in particular, whether church unity is something to look for, or rather leave it in the past and say we no longer need it. “Indeed, the UGCC is trying to modernize its ecumenical concept - the attitude towards our Orthodox brothers, Protestants and representatives of other religions. The UGCC has a certain mission - to watch over the search for the lost unity among Christians, which is part of the identity of every Eastern Church, in particular, the UGCC”, the Head of the UGCC highlighted.

Thus, the third significant event that His Beatitude Sviatoslav drew attention to was the decade of creating three new metropolises in Ukraine: Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil-Zboriv.

“Our metropolises have different faces. This is our chance for development, which gives everyone the opportunity to maintain their identity and at the same time create unity on other grounds”, he added. “Hence, reflecting on all these events we gained experience in how to be a Church in a new way, in accordance with new social, historical, cultural and even epidemiological circumstances. But we exist, we develop, work, serve our people, no matter where they are”, the spiritual leader of Ukrainians summarized.