Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Russian Orthodox Church to Start Dialogue

“I am very glad that meetings are held between the Apostolic See and the Moscow Patriarchate,” said the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav, during a press conference at UNIAN as he commented on the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev). The head of the UGCC stressed that such meetings are very useful: “We will do everything we can not to hinder such meetings, but to promote them by all means,” stated Patriarch Sviatoslav.

Talking about the importance of dialogue, the head of the UGCC mentioned his official meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), held on August 23, 2011, in the Kyiv Cave Monastery. “The meeting was very beneficial for all of us,” said the hierarch.

According to the Information Department of the UGCC, it is important that Metropolitan Ilarion also expressed readiness to meet with Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych. This was mentioned in his interview about a possible meeting between the Roman Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow published on October 5 in the newspaper Izvestiia. “I hope to meet with Patriarch Sviatoslav in the near future,” said Metropolitan Hilarion. The hierarch also expressed hope that with the appointment of the new head of the UGCC, positive changes in the relations between the two churches will be made.