All-Ukrainian Council of Churches met with G7 diplomats

The meeting took place on July 9 in Kyiv in response to the invitation of Melinda Simmons, British Ambassador to Ukraine.

Among the participants were His Beatitude Sviatoslav, a chairman of AUCRRO, His Beatitude Epiphaniy the Primate of the Orthodox Church, Vitaliy Kryvytskiy, bishop of Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, Mykhailo Panochko, Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church, Jacob Dov Bleich, President of the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine and others.

Religious leaders shared with foreign diplomats an experience of participating in the Trilateral Contract Group for the peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine. Specifically they discussed a deterioration of humanitarian situation on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, a problem of internally displaced persons, a necessity of more active engagement of international society in restoration of religious freedom and other human rights in Crimea and other territories occupied by Russia.

The participants also exchanged views regarding fight against family violence. The representatives of the diplomatic corps were speaking about importance to ratify the Istanbul Convention, whereas religious leaders emphasized a necessity of practical matters in order to combat domestic violence by involving national law, as this international document has some ideological connotation.

At the end of the meeting His Beatitude Sviatoslav raised the question of justice establishment in Ukraine concerning judicial reform, lack of what provoked two Maidans in Ukraine.

Religious leaders presented to the foreign diplomats an Appeal of AUCCRO concerning the resolution of the problem of the wrongfully convicted. It states a necessity of serious changes in court cases, which have some doubts concerning their justice and impartiality.

vrciro.org.ua