“Allotting a land plot for construction of a Greek Catholic church in Odesa is a testament that in this region of Ukraine a presidential order is being executed on the equal treatment of all faiths by the authorities,” said Patriarch Sviatoslav

“In Odesa alone, according to statistics, there are close to 10 thousand Greek Catholics. If they are so numerous, I’m sure they need their own church for common prayer,” Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) said on December 9, 2011, at a press conference in Odesa during his pastoral visit to the Odesa and Crimea Exarchate of the UGCC. The church primate noted that the presence of another Greek Catholic church in Odesa will enrich the city and the UGCC. “If the Greek Catholics receive a land plot for construction of a church it will be a sign that even in Odesa the Ukrainian president’s order on the equal treatment of all denominations by the authorities are being executed,” said the church head. In addition, on December 8, 2011, His Beatitude Sviatoslav met with representatives of the Odesa Regional State Administration, including the representative of the Odesa City Council. “In our conversation the question of receiving a land plot for a Greek Catholic church was raised, and I hope it will be resolved. I think that my understanding of Odesa as an open, tolerant city will be confirmed with the allocation of the land plot to the faithful of the UGCC,” said the patriarch.  

UGCC Information Department