We are in essence a patriarchal Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav
This was said by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, in an interview with LB.ua, answering the question of how much the UGCC's path to gaining the status of her own patriarchate has shortened over the past ten years.
"Obviously, when it comes to who is the head that unites the metropolitanates in Ukraine, Poland, Canada, the United States, Brazil, this is is the patriarch," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
At the same time, he explained that it is not enough to have metropolitanates or a Synod because as Pope Francis said in 2019: "It is not enough to have a Synod, we must be a Synod."
“Therefore, we still need to learn to use the structures that we are developing in a proper way. I think we are a patriarchal Church in essence and now we live more and more fully as such. I think that the recognition of the UGCC as the patriarchal Church will be the next step,” said the Primate of the UGCC.