News

Pope upholds Ukrainian interfaith efforts as concrete testimony of peace

Pope Francis receives a delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations and thanks members for their witness of peace and for their efforts to pave the way to the common good of all people in war-torn Ukraine.

Pope Francis thanked members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) for their work describing their witness as a «concrete testimony of peace in a country suffering from war.»

Addressing a UCCRO delegation before the General Audience on Wednesday, the Pope upheld the collaboration of the member groups, whom he said, together support those in need, defend the rights of the faithful of all denominations and advocate for the respect of human rights.

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Head of the UGCC during prayer for the unity of Christians: There is so much that unites us - one God, one faith, one baptism

Pope Francis wants to tell us today that the Word of God is an inexhaustible treasure of Christian unity. The Word of God through the Apostle Paul tells us there is already so much that unites us — one God, one faith, one baptism. The Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said this at the UGCC Church of St. Basil the Great in Kyiv during the Inter-denominational Prayer Service, held in the Week of Prayers for the Unity of Christians.

The main topic of reflection and slogan of this year's Ecumenical Week were the words from the Acts of the Apostles: «Let us be merciful» (Acts 28, 2). Bishop Olexandr (Drabynko), Metropolitan Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky and Vyshnevsky (Orthodox Church of Ukraine) expressed his thoughts about those words.

«Let us be merciful as our Father is merciful. These words are repeated many times in the Scriptures and for us Christians are especially important. They sound from the mouth of the Savior Himself as a call to imitate Him,» said Bishop Olexandr.

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Orthodox Church seeks impetus to consensus with Greek-Catholic

»The stolen Churches, or bridges to Orthodoxy?» — this was the topic of a ecumenical conference, held on 19-21 July 2019 at the Academy of the diocese Rottenburg-Stuttgart (Germany), which set a goal to find new impulses for dialogue between the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.

Co-organizers of the conference were Georgetown University (Washington DC) and Volos Greek Theological Academy in collaboration with key theologians from the countries of the European Union, as well as the USA, Canada, Ukraine and Russia. During the two and a half days of the conference, theologians discussed the following topics: ecclesiological models of Church unity, synodality and conciliarity of the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, missionary and sacramental nature of the Church, the role of women in the Church; as well as a number of topics related to the Liturgy and Church law as special components of the identity of the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.

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UGCC delegate takes part in plenary session of Christian Interconfessional Consultative Committee

The 4th plenary session of the Christian Interconfessional Consultative Committee took place in St. Petersburg on February 26, 2014. Acting as its moderators were co-chairmen of the Committee: Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow; and pastor Vitaliy Vlasenko, chairman of the Department for External Relations of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

The participants claimed that Christians should openly express their common opinion on vices of society and feel free to call sin by its right name. Special attention was paid to the problem of re-establishing the traditional understanding of family. The suggestions were made to celebrate the Year of Family, the Day of Family, and the Year of Sanctity of Life (aimed against abortion and euthanasia).

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Appeal for a prayer for Ukraine to all Christians

The life of every person, the communion of people, our human dignity are all gifts of God. In Ukraine these gifts have been brutally trampled. Millions of our faithful and other committed citizens of Ukraine have for almost 3 months peacefully demanded to live with dignity. This week over 100 people have been cold-heartedly killed, thousands are injured. Our country is in the midst of a profound tragedy. The danger of further violence and fragmentation hangs over our land. Our Church and all the religious communities of our country have pleaded for peace and justice. In the name of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church I appeal through my brother bishops to all clergy, religious and faithful of the Catholic Church to pray for peace, justice and human dignity in Ukraine this Sunday. Our country needs abundant graces to emerge from this great trial. Our hope is in the Lord. Please pray to our Loving God for peace in Ukraine.

+ SVIATOSLAV
Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych,
Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church