UGCC Head: Greek Catholics do not show tendency to transfer to Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Everyone understands that religious peace is a great treasure that the Churches and religious organizations of Ukraine have managed to keep throughout all years of the war. This is an issue of national security, stability of our state. Although there was a lot of attempts to steal this religious peace.
The Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, said it in an interview with the online outlet Glavkom, answering a journalist's question whether Ukraine expects a new war for churches, as it was the case in the 1990s, the Department of Information of the UGCC informs.
“I would not really like that,” said the Primate. “And I see that, except for the enemies of Ukraine, nobody is interested in it. His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, President, Chairman of the Parliament, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Epifaniy warned of this. Let's see how well these warnings and appeals are heard.»
His Beatitude Sviatoslav also noticed that he does not see the tendency of the transition of Greek Catholics to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
“Our people are asking their pastors for explanations, they are interested in this issue. We explain to them how we will build our relations with the Orthodox brethren. But we do not see anyone change their church identity and leave our Church.”
According to the Head of the UGCC, the Greek Catholics remember very well the martyrs and confessers of the Church in the communist times who gave their lives to testify to the unity with the successor of the Apostle Peter of our days - the Pope.
“This unity is an integral part of our identity. After all, the fullness of the Kyiv Christian tradition is absolutely preserved and blossoms within our Church,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
