His Beatitude Sviatoslav met with the Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine
On May 2, the Father and Head of the UGCC met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen and Kateryna Yesikova, a representative of the Embassy’s Department of Culture, Education and National Minorities. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the pastoral care of healing the wounds of war and the circumstances of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ministry to support the front and help the victims of war.
The Primate of the Church touched upon the pastoral care program for healing war wounds and said that a separate certified program for the clergy is under implementation. In addition, representatives of the German Embassy in Ukraine learned about the Church’s vigorous international activities in providing humanitarian aid to the victims of the war in Ukraine.
Last but not least, the parties discussed the Ukrainian refugees in Germany. In this context, His Beatitude Sviatoslav spoke about the Apostolic Exarchate of the UGCC in Germany.
Today, about a million Ukrainians live in Germany. The Head of the UGCC thanked the German state for generously and openly accepting our people and helping them integrate into that society. Yet, during the meeting, the parties also discussed how to improve the service for Ukrainian migrants and ensure they can return to their homeland with some experience and knowledge of the language to restore and rebuild it.
In the end, German Ambassador Anka Feldhusen inquired about the situation in the religious environment of Ukraine. In particular, she asked about the Primate’s vision of what is happening around the Moscow Patriarchate, particularly around the Lavra.
According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, this crisis of the Moscow Patriarchate’s moral authority in Ukraine favors the growing secularization of society. And this is a complicated and dangerous process, particularly when our people need their mother church to support them and heal war wounds.
To mark the occasion of the meeting, His Beatitude Sviatoslav gave the guests pysanky (decorated Ukrainian Easter eggs) and medals made on the consecration of the Patriarchal Cathedra as gifts. The Head of the UGCC also added that on August 18, the Patriarchal Cathedral would celebrate its first decade.
It is important to note that the speakers communicated in Ukrainian. His Beatitude Sviatoslav thanked Ms. Anka for being keen and able to learn Ukrainian during her years in Ukraine.
The UGCC Department for Information
