Cardinal Kurt Koch began his visit to Ukraine with a meeting with UGCC Head

Saturday, 08 June 2013, 12:10

On June 5th, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Co-chair of the Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholic and Orthodox Churches, arrived in Ukraine. He was met at Borispol Airport by His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), UGCC Head, and Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, Apostolic Nuncio for Ukraine.

On June 5^th, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Co-chair of the Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholic and Orthodox Churches, arrived in Ukraine. He was met at Borispol Airport by His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), UGCC Head, and Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, Apostolic Nuncio for Ukraine.

A meeting took place in the UGCC Primate’s residence outside of Kyiv, in Kniazhych. There they were joined by UGCC Archbishop-Emeritus Lubomyr (Husar).

During the conversation His Beatitude Sviatoslav told the President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity about ecumenical perspectives in Ukraine and described the interconfessional fellowship which takes place in the framework of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. Also UGCC Primate related the recent statement, during the VI Festival of Orthodox Media in Lviv, of Boryslav Metropolitan Antoniy (Pakanych), Manager of UOC (MP), that “in West Ukraine there are no misunderstandings between the Orthodox and the Greek-Catholics and relations between the two Churches in this region are stable.”

Then His Beatitude Lubomyr described to the Dignified Guest the visit of Blessed John Paul II to Ukraine and his meeting with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. “When the Holy Father saw us (representatives of many Churches - ed. note), gathered together, he was so moved that he labeled Ukraine as “a laboratory of ecumenism,” related His Beatitude Lubomyr.

A reminder: on June 7, 2013, (6-7:30 PM) in the Institute of St. Thomas Aquinas located on 13 Yakir St. in Kyiv, there will be a round table discussion with Cardinal Kurt Koch as the main speaker. Other speakers include: His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), UGCC Head; Archbishop Thomas Edward Gallickson, Apostolic Nuncio for Ukraine; Metropolitan Antoniy (Pakanych), Manager of UOC (MP); Archbishop Petro Herkulian (Malchuk), Ordinary of Kyiv-Zhytomyr RC Diocese in Ukraine.

Also Cardinal Kurt Koch will visit Lviv where he will meet with lecturers and students at UCU and will visit the Sviato-Uspensk Univ Lavra.

UGCC Department of Information