Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) asks for the UGCC along with other denominations to be allowed to participate in the construction of the Tithe Church, reads a letter from the primate to the head of the Kyiv City State Administration Oleksandr Popov, UNIAN reports.
Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) asks for the UGCC along with other denominations to be allowed to participate in the construction of the Tithe Church, reads a letter from the primate to the head of the Kyiv City State Administration Oleksandr Popov, UNIAN reports.
According to Patriarch Sviatoslav, the renewal of the Tithe Church should promote the unification of the Kyivan Church. “However, this will only happen if all churches of Volodymyr’s baptism have the right to use it. Any other way will carry a risk of deepening the existing divisions and increase tension in society,” said the patriarch.
He stressed that this would also “restore justice to the UGCC, since until now, according to various state acts of the Ukrainian government and for many reasons, historical shrines in Kyiv were divided and transferred to only three parts of the original Kyivan Church: St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, the Dormition Cathedral of the National Kyiv Caves Monastery Historical and Cultural Museum to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and St. Andrew’s Church of the St. Sophia of Kyiv National Reserve to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.”
The church head is convinced that the third largest denomination according to number of believers – the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – was not taken into account, “though its faithful are in dire need of a church in Kyiv for common prayer.”
“We believe that this event, other than restoring justice, would contribute significantly to the renewal of the unity of the Kyivan Church and strengthen the unity of the entire Ukrainian nation,” concluded the primate.