Head of the UGCC appealed to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the people's deputies not to transfer the iconic Christian sacred object to one confession

The Father and the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church his Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, addressed to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak and the heads of the parliamentary fractions of the Party of regions, «Batkivshchyna», «UDAR Vitaliy Klitschko» and «Svoboda» not to support the law №№ 2993, 3194, and 3007, the aim of which is to transfer the iconic Christian sacred object to one denomination.

First of all it concerns the complex of buildings of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which is composed of 113 objects (XI-XIX centuries), the Pochaiv monastery  composed of 6 objects (XVIII-XX centuries), Church of Virgin , in Kyiv.

«These sacred buildings, together with Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv, are spiritual symbols of unity and  sacred object of special rank for all Ukrainian people,» - stressed the head of the UGCC in his letter to the deputies.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that the Ukrainian State should preserve these sacred object as its property and they should not be consigned to any denomination until the unity of the Church in Ukraine will not  be restored. «Only when all religiously Orthodox and Catholic

believers will return to the original unity   of the beginning of Christianity in Ukraine, these sacred objects should be consigned to the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Church. It will be a true restoration of historical justice as to the Church, »- said the Head of the Church.He warns that the attempts of transfering these sacred objects in the ownership of any of the Christian confessions «will cause outrage in a religious environment and in the whole Ukrainian society».“We ask You and all the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine  not to support the law №№ 2993, 3194, 3007, and other laws of the similar context, which provide privileges in a veiled form  to one of the denominations and violate religious peace and interfaith understanding», - said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The head of the Church expressed the hope for «a wise decision and voting for the benefit of all people of Ukraine, preservation religious peace in our State and social accord , and ensurance of further positive development of state-confessional relations».