"Voluntary, accessible and safe vaccination" - UGCC voices its position on anti-COVID vaccination

This is reported by the Department of Information of the UGCC.

The first day of the forum ended with a special session "Conversation of Religious Figures of Ukraine" where the speakers discussed the Church's attitude to vaccination against Covid-19 and in particular, told how the religious community influences the attitude of believers to the procedure.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was represented on the forum by Fr. Oleksa Petriv, Head of the Department of External Relations of the UGCC.

During the session Fr. Oleksa Petriv shared the experience of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the fight against the pandemic.

"The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church tried to adequately and solidly respond to the challenge that we faced. Thanks to God and due to the fact that the bodies of our Church are present in 27 countries of the world and on 5 continents, even before the introduction of quarantine in Ukraine, we already had appropriate precedents, how people in different parts of the world respond to this challenge and already had a generalized picture. Even before the introduction of quarantine in Ukraine, we gave appropriate instructions and instructions on how to arrange the spiritual life of parishioners in our Church. With this in mind, during the first weeks of quarantine, the Anti-Crisis Committee was established in our Church, which was engaged and continues to work out an adequate response to the current challenge. Many things have been done, which explained to the faithful of the UGCC, as well as to all people of goodwill how to behave properly," the priest said.

He remembered the audience that the Head of the UGCC voiced the position of the Church on vaccination in January at the meeting of the AUCCRO.

"Briefly, this position can be described in three words: the first is voluntary nature, the second, which is very important, is accessibility, and the third is carelessness. Its abbreviation is VAC. If vaccination and all related processes in Ukraine take place, according to this principle, the position of the Church will certainly be favorable," the representative of the UGCC assured.

In addition, the head of the Department of External Relations of the UGCC recalled that vaccination, which is now so much spoken about, is not a panacea.

"Vaccination is only a means of combating the coronavirus pandemic, though very serious, but still a remedy. We should not forget about those things that need to be followed to overcome the pandemic: wearing masks, washing hands, keeping distance. Now vaccination is added here, which, however, is only a step in the struggle," Fr. Oleksa reiterated.

"The next step (apparently, it will be the last in response to the challenge facing us) will be the question of new medicines and treatment protocols," Fr. Oleksa said, referring to the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.