Heads of seven churches sent a joint letter to the President of Ukraine regarding introduction of Military Chaplaincy

The heads of the seven denominations met on 10 November, 2008 and signed the Memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in matters of pastoral care for military in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Recently the group has sent a joint letter to the President of Ukraine in response to the President’s 7 February, 2011 Instruction on the promotion of military patriotism, as well as spiritual upbringing of the military The President’s Instruction envisioned the creation in the Armed Forces of favourable conditions for the military to realize their rights to freedom of religious confession, including participation in Divine Services and religious rites along with pastoral care. In their letter, the heads of the churches and religious organizations expressed gratitude for the initiative on behalf of the state. The initiative ensures the constitutional rights and freedoms of its citizens wearing the military uniform. They also voiced their joint position in supporting the initiatives of the President regarding meeting of religious needs of those in the power structures of Ukraine. Furthermore, the heads of the churches proposed the possibility of introducing an institute of military chaplaincy as the most effective, and historically justified, mechanism of meeting military believers’ religious needs. “This level of cooperation between different denominations and the state is being held for the first time in the history of the Ukrainian military pastoral care. It guarantees equal participation of all the participants of the military-confessional relations in these processes despite their inter-confessional differences,” - commented Rev. Lubomyr Yavorskyi, deputy Head of the Department of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC for Pastoral Care of the Power Structures of Ukraine. The document was signed by the heads of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christians Baptists, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Ukraine.

Reported by the UGCC Department

for Pastoral Care of the Power Structures of Ukraine