U.G.K.Ts. PATRIARCH MEETS
WITH WILLIAM
TAYLOR.
They talked about war and
inter-confessional relations
Patriarch Sviatoslav of
the Ukrainian
Greek Catholic Church (UGKTs) conducted a working meeting with
the temporary
American charge d'affaires in Ukraine, William Taylor. During
the meeting the
parties discussed inter-confessional relations in Ukraine and
ensuring the
necessary conditions for maintaining religious peace. This was
reported by the
information department of the UGKTs.
Patriarch Sviatoslav
emphasized that the
UGKTs is open to dialogue with all confessions and at the same
time it does not
interfere in the intra-Orthodox conflicts. He said a dialogue
between churches
is possible when both sides recognize each other as subjects of
such a dialogue
and express mutual respect.
"In Ukraine today,
ecumenical
dialogue is not so simple. There is no official dialogue.
Although on our part,
we are open to communication with everybody who is ready for at
least bilateral
talk," His Beatitude Sviatoslav said.
"Unfortunately, in recent
years not
a single attempt at meeting with Metropolitan Onufry has met
with
success," he added.
The parties also talked
about the war in
the Donbass. They talked about how it is possible to prevent or
to stop this
war. And how to then heal the wounds.
"On our part, we have
concluded
that there is no military resolution of this war. But on the
other hand, it is
impossible to achieve real peace if all sides do not respect the
territorial
integrity of Ukraine and do not respect our country as a subject
of
international law," the patriarch stressed.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav
thanked the
representative of the U.S.A., William Taylor, that his country
is trying to establish
the foundations of international law so that "the rule of law"
will
be more effective than the "right of the strong" in the
contemporary
world.
At the end of the
meeting, the head of
the UGKTs gave his guest a presentation publication about the
UGKTs and the
book "Persecution for Truth." "The first book shows the face of
our church today in Ukraine and in the whole world. And the
second is about the
persecution of the church in soviet times," UGKTs Patriarch
Sviatoslav
noted. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 October 2019)
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