Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Met with President of Ukraine

At the official residence of the President of Ukraine – the House of Horodetsky – the meeting of President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia began.

The central subjects of discussion were the church-state relations in Ukraine and the perspectives of development of the Orthodoxy.

At the beginning of the meeting Victor Yushchenko greeted Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on his spiritual and pastoral visit to Ukraine. According to the head of the state, Ukraine expects to receive many positive signals that the Orthodoxy needs. He expressed hope for continuation of the dialogue on the perspectives of development of the Orthodoxy in Ukraine, which the Ukrainian party highly appreciated.

At the estimate of Victor Yushchenko, the Orthodoxy in Ukraine is in favourable conditions for development, to which can testify restoration and handover of the cathedrals, churches and other religious buildings to the Church. The President of Ukraine expressed assuredness that the state policy towards the Church was right, though there were problems in the Ukrainian orthodoxy, such as the presence of the four orthodox confessions.
According to Victor Yushchenko, Ukraine inherited this problem and it is not the problem of the Ukrainian orthodoxy alone. The head of the state announced that the problem, which took away the potential of the Orthodoxy in Ukraine would be discussed during the meeting with Patriarch Kirill.

On his part Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia expressed gratitude for the invitation to visit Ukraine that he received from Metropolitan Vladimir of Kyiv and All Ukraine. Underscoring the historical role of Kyiv in the development of the Orthodoxy, he mentioned that Kyiv for him was “our Russian Jerusalem and Constantinople at the same time”. Thus he considers his visit to Ukraine not only as a pastoral one, but also as a pilgrimage trip.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia also noted that he had conducted the dialogue on the religious situation in Ukraine with the President for a long time, and planned to discuss a series of other important issues during the current meeting.

Taking part in the meeting on the part of Ukraine were deputy head of the President’s Secretariat Yuriy Bohutskyi, Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of the Russian Federation to Ukraine, first Deputy of the Secretary of Council of National Security of Ukraine, Special Representative of Ukraine for Development of Relations with the Russian Federation Kostyantyn Hryshchenko, Secretary of the Council of National Security and Defense Raisa Bohatyriova, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine, other clergymen.

By the results of the meeting the head of the state and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia exchanged souvenirs. President of Ukraine offered as present a Poltava-styled shirt with white embroidery on the white tissue, a towel – a work of authorship by Oleksandra Telizhenko and a series of memorial coins “Records of Ancient Cultures of Ukraine”.

In response the Ukrainian part was offered the Icon of the Savior, Image Not-Made-by-Hands, and the certificate for getting full edition of works and poems by Nikolai Gogol in 17 volumes, which will be published on the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The series of books will be produced within the framework of the Russian-Ukrainian projects by the end of 2009 by the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchy.

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