UGCC Bishops sent a letter to the President of Ukraine

“We are concerned that on the eve of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine, some politicians and political groups  are trying again to use Ukrainian language as small change. We are also concerned about closing of Ukrainian schools in some regions of our country. We are convinced that such extremely short-sighted and irresponsible policy does not contribute to the consolidation of the Ukrainian statehood” – with these words the Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church appealed to the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. The letter was written in Brazil during the UGCC Synod of Bishops. This information was reported by His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) on a press-conference at UNIAN on 5 October 2011. According the UGCC Primate, the letter also deals with the issue of Ukrainian immigration. On the one side, the UGCC Bishops note that “Ukrainian minorities are very effective ambassadors of Ukraine and our national interests in their contacts with official representatives of those countries where they reside.” On the other side, it is with great sadness that we must acknowledge that “over the 20 years of the Ukrainian Independence, we have witnessed a massive immigration of millions of people from Ukraine who were forced to leave their native country in order to provide for the survival of their children and families”. “Why our state remains silent while numerous highly-qualified workers (teachers, medics and engineers) leave Ukraine?” – ask the authors of the document. “We think that the state should in the shortest terms create an effective executive body which will implement state policy regarding our immigrants and will protect their rights in every corner of the world, in the Eastern as well as the Western diaspora. Not less important is the creation of new working places in Ukraine and taking measures to secure the return of our compatriots back home” – reads the letter-appeal. Another issue addressed by the letter is the state of justice in Ukraine. “Analytics from Ukraine and abroad pay attention to the partial implementation of the law having thus grounds to talk about political persecution of the opponents. Some even talk about “distorted justice”. The authors of the appeal to the President expressed him their gratitude for a long-awaited meeting with the representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations taking place 21 April this year. The Bishops also expressed their hopes that such meetings would be held on a regular basis and they will be beneficial for all the interested bodies, since “the relations between the Churches and the state should be built on the principle of equality before the law of all the confessions, preserving the proper autonomy and willingness to cooperate, especially where it comes to true good of a person and common good.”

UGCC Information Department