Head of the UGCC Meets with the European Commission
During his working visit to Brussels (Belgium), His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Head and Father of the UGCC, met with representatives of the European Commission: Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, and Michael Siebert, Executive Director for Eastern Europe.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav reminded the representatives of the European Commission of the visit of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to Brussels in 2013 when the religious environment of Ukraine unanimously declared to the top officials of the European Union the irrevocable European choice of Ukrainian society. “And today, in waging a neo-colonial war against Ukraine, we want to confirm the unwavering will of Ukraine to be in the family of European nations. Ukraine is waiting for an invitation to join the EU,” the Head of the UGCC emphasized.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav recounted the situation in Ukraine and the pastoral ministry of the UGCC in times of war, whose primary concern is “healing the traumas of war” and social service. The parties discussed the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the need for close cooperation in the humanitarian sector between the respective structures of the European Union and charitable church organizations.
Bishop Stepan Sus, head of the Pastoral Migration Department of the UGCC, described the experience of the UGCC’s work with internally displaced migrants in European countries. “Our communities in Europe are places not only of prayer but also of active social service. It is through the extensive network of our pastoral structures in Europe that we were able to provide necessary assistance to refugees from Ukraine and accompany them in their new living conditions,” said Bishop Stepan.
Commissioner Varhelyi commended the work of the UGCC in the humanitarian sphere and expressed hope that “by combining our efforts with you, we will be able to overcome the challenges that Russian aggression poses to the whole world.”
At the meeting with Michael Siebert, the participants discussed the current religious situation in Ukraine and the role of churches and religious organizations in the war. He emphasized the extraordinary task of the Church — “healing the spiritual wounds of war, which any state or public organization can fulfill.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav is currently in Brussels on a working visit at the invitation of Archbishop Mariano Crociata, President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe. He is participating in the General Assembly of this organization and engaging in meetings with the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The Head of the UGCC is accompanied by Bishop Stepan Sus, head of the Pastoral and Missionary Department of the UGCC, and Fr. Andriy Soletsky, head of the Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome.
Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome
