Delegations of the UGCC and the Patriarchate of Constantinople Meet at the Pontifical Synod in the Vatican
In the course of the Pontifical Synod hosted by the Vatican, a meeting was held between the UGCC delegation and Metropolitan Job Getcha, a delegate from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The bishops of the UGCC discussed with the representative of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew the situation in Ukraine and inter-church relations in the context of war.
At the beginning of the meeting, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Head and Father of the UGCC, introduced to Metropolitan Job the UGCC delegation to the Pontifical Synod: Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh, Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Germany and Scandinavia, and Bishop Teodor Martyniuk, Auxiliary Bishop of the Ternopil-Zboriv Archeparchy.
The bishops of the UGCC expressed gratitude to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for his continued contact with the UGCC and his unequivocal stance on Russian aggression in Ukraine, which is based on the ideological heresy of the “Russkiy mir”. The parties also discussed inter-church relations in Ukraine during the war. Specific focus was placed on the humanitarian crisis caused by Russian aggression and the daily bombardment of Ukrainian cities and villages.
Metropolitan Job is the head of the Orthodox group and co-president with Cardinal Koch of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Metropolitan Job has stated that one of its causes is “the heresy of instrumentalization of faith by the state (Russia — ed.)” and said that “unfortunately, the Russian Orthodox Church has neither the power nor the desire to resist this instrumentalization.”
Secretariat of the Head of the UGCC in Rome
