KYIV — (RISU.ORG.UA) - At a press conference on December 15, 2009, in the Ukrainian House, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) explained the UGCC’s vision of the possibility of uniting the Kyivan Church and presented the Address of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC of 2009 to the journalists and the public. One of the main themes of the address was the UGCC’s vision of the possibility of unifying the four branches of the Kyivan Church: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in one national church.
“We realize that our nation lacked unity and, in addition to the preservation of unity between us, the Greek Catholics, we wish to make all efforts to restore the unity we once enjoyed at the time of St. Volodymyr’s baptism,” said Patriarch Lubomyr.
Like in the previous one, this year’s address stresses that the holiness of the people, the purpose for which the church functions, is impossible without unity – its main attribute. The head of the UGCC explained that unity is not to be seen as something external. According to him, it primarily means accepting each other. “Unity is peace,” added the patriarch.
The synod expressed its proposals to restore the unity, namely, the Ecclesiastic Communion model of unity. “Instead of the monopoly ownership of Christian Ukraine, which was a characteristic of the past, we suggest the Ecclesiastic Communion unity of the today’s divided Kyivan Church,” quoted the head of UGCC from the address.
According to Patriarch Lubomyr, the establishment of one national church is to occur through communion, the unity in faith with the preservation of the liturgical and service specificities of each branch. “We are all equal… We have to be the same only in holy faith, whereas certain elaborations, traditions can be different. We have to learn to be tolerant of each other, accept each other as we are, and not insist on the necessity for all to be made like one particular branch,” stated the patriarch.
According to the press-service of UGCC, the hierarch also explained that the unity of the church must grow from inside, within each branch of the Kyivan Church in order to bring peace and understanding to Ukraine.