On May 20, the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) delegation met with representatives of various Brazilian Christian churches at the Presbyterian Cathedral in São Paulo.
This was reported by the UCCRO website.
At the beginning of the event, the Representative of the UCCRO Chair, Pastor Anatoliy Raychinets, noted that "Ukrainian religious leaders came to Brazil, to tell the truth about Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, the pain and suffering of the Ukrainian people, numerous crimes committed by Russian soldiers against humanity, and the persecution, torture, and murder of Ukrainian priests in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine."
Pastor Oleksandr Pavlenko from the Pentecostal Church in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, shared his testimony: "For me, the war began in 2014 when, on the Feast of Trinity, Russian soldiers burst into our church and took two of my sons and two deacons from the service." Subsequently, these four church members were tortured, murdered, and their bodies were burned by the Russian military criminals to hide the crime.
UCCRO representatives answered questions from Brazilian clergy about Russia's war against Ukraine and called on Brazilian churches to continue praying for a just peace in Ukraine. At the end of the event, Brazilian religious leaders prayed for Ukraine and the UCCRO delegation.
As a memento of this meeting, the UCCRO delegation presented the Brazilian religious leaders, who organized the event, with a children's drawing and a painting depicting Jesus embracing a child.
In the second half of the day, the Council of Churches delegation met with the General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Erni Seibert and the management team of the Brazilian Bible Society (BBS) at its headquarters in São Paulo state. Dr. Seibert spoke about the principles and work of the BBS, including their help in producing New Testaments in Ukrainian and sending them to Ukraine during the war.
During the meeting, UCCRO representatives thanked BBS for their assistance and spoke about the critical role of Ukrainian churches in society during the war and the resistance against Russian aggression. Oleksandr Zayats, Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF), presented a report to the BBS leadership titled "The Impact of the Russian Invasion on Religious Communities in Ukraine," which includes IRF monitoring results and surveys about the situation of Ukrainian religious communities in the territories occupied by Russia. The meeting concluded with a joint prayer by BBS and UCCRO representatives.
On the evening of May 20, 2024, the Council of Churches delegation arrived in Curitiba (Paraná state), home to the largest Ukrainian community in Brazil, as part of their visit to Brazil.
Before the official part of the UCCRO visit to Brazil, Ukrainian religious leaders participated in festive services and preached in several large evangelical churches in São Paulo (Adventist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Assembly of God churches) on May 18-19, 2024, at the invitation of Brazilian churches and with the assistance of the Brazilian Bible Society.