• Home page
  • News
  • Head of UGCC: division in Orthodoxy is big problem for Ukraine...

Head of UGCC: division in Orthodoxy is big problem for Ukraine

10.07.2019, 21:29
Head of UGCC: division in Orthodoxy is big problem for Ukraine - фото 1

"The churches live by their own prejudices against each other... People understand that there are dogmatic, theological and spiritual differences between Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants, but they do not understand why the Orthodox themselves are divided among themselves," the Primate added. Division in Orthodoxy is a big problem for Ukraine. This opinion was expressed by the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in an interview for the Italian media outlet ACI Stampa after the meeting of the UGCC hierarchs with Pope Francis.

"The churches live by their own prejudices against each other... People understand that there are dogmatic, theological and spiritual differences between Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants, but they do not understand why the Orthodox themselves are divided among themselves," the Primate added. Division in Orthodoxy is a big problem for Ukraine. This opinion was expressed by the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in an interview for the Italian media outlet ACI Stampa after the meeting of the UGCC hierarchs with Pope Francis.

"By providing autocephaly, the Ecumenical Patriarchate tried to cure these differences, but we see that there is a long way to go yet," said his Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The Head of the Church stressed that the UGCC is open to ecumenical dialogue with all faiths. "It's been thirty years since our Church has come out from the underground, and we have experienced a certain ecumenical transformation. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, the UGCC emerged from the catacombs and got a possibility to live in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, in particular its ecumenical spirit. But in the 1990s, the ecumenical situation in Ukraine grew very tense. We were seen as enemies, particularly because the Churches discussed the allocation of temples. Today, however, the situation is completely different. We cooperate together where possible. We perceive the Orthodox as our brothers," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

According to him, the UGCC is looking for all opportunities for cooperation, especially when it comes to helping the population that is the most affected by war. "Bombs do not distinguish between Catholics and Orthodox, neither they distinguish between those who speak Ukrainian, Russian, Polish... They kill everyone without exception. Therefore, we try to find unity in solving these acute problems," the Head of the Church assures.

It is reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.