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Head of UGCC Meets With Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople

20.04.2013, 22:15
Head of UGCC Meets With Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople - фото 1
Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, and head of the Department of Foreign Relations of UGCC, Bishop Borys Gudziak, met with Patriarch Bartholomew I in his residence in Istanbul.

Константинополь.jpgDuring the trip concerning the celebration of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, and head of the Department of Foreign Relations of UGCC, Bishop Borys Gudziak, met with Patriarch Bartholomew I in his residence in Istanbul on April 20.

“In my opinion, this visit is very important and it was made on our initiative. For the Church of the ancient Constantinople is the Mother Church of all the Christians of the Kyivan tradition who received the faith in the Baptism of the holy Prince Volodymyr Equal-to-the Apostles,” commented the UGCC head.  

He stressed that the Ecumenical Patriarch today is an important moral authority both in the Orthodox world and in the Christian world in general.

The head of UGCC assured the Ecumenical Patriarch of the readiness to develop the relations with the Church of Constantinople. In particular, he spoke about the prospects of renewing the Kyiv Study Group, which included theologians and scholars of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of USA and Canada and of the UGCC.

“As is evident, in the last 20 years, religious circumstances in Ukraine have changed fundamentally, and, therefore, the renewal of the activity of the group on the one hand would facilitate interdenominational understanding and dialogue within the Kyivan Christianity, and on the other hand renew the dialogue and possibilities of communion between the churches, successors of the Kyivan Christianity in Ukraine and the Church of Constantinople,” concluded the head of UGCC, the Information Department of UGCC reported.