Ukraine church confirms allegiance to Rome after tension over agreement with Moscow

Amid tensions about the position of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics in the renewed dialogue between Vatican and Moscow, the leaders of the church met with Pope Francis in the Vatican and stressed their allegiance to Rome. “We came to reaffirm our communion with the Holy Father and to ask for his help for the suffering people of Ukraine during the Jubilee Year of Mercy,” said the head of Ukrainian Greek Catholics, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

Ukrainian Greek Catholics are in full unity with Rome and have been a major source of friction between Moscow and the Vatican.  The Russian Orthodox have long insisted the activity of the Ukrainian Catholics of Eastern rite amounted to "proselytism" and was an obstacle in mutual dialogue. The leaders of Ukrainian Greek Catholic church on the contrary accused Moscow Orthodox Partiarchate of supporting the pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine and the Russian occupation of Crimea.

They urged a tougher line on Russian military involvement in Ukraine both from Vatican and the international community.  The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church repeatedly stressed his country was not in a civil war but facing "the direct aggression of our (Russian) neighbour".

Archibishop Shevchuk recently criticised parts of the declaration between Pope Francis and the Moscow Orthodox Patriarch Kirill during their historic meeting in Cuba on 12 February, calling on "all the parts involved in the conflict (in Ukraine) to prudence". He said that "this text led to deep disappointment among many Ukrainians" but later clarified that the Pope-Patriarch meeting in Havana was "of historical importance" despite some concern on his side.

In the immediate aftermath of the agreement in Cuba Archbishop Shevchuk said it contained unclear statements on the war in Eastern Ukraine and on the identity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. He also warned that his people were deeply disappointed by the declaration's wording.

In an interview with Radio Vaticana after the meeting this weekend Archbishop Shevchuk stressed the Pope's empathy for the plight of Ukrainian people. "When I explained to him the various ways in which Ukrainians had interpreted the Havana accord, he emphasised that, in his way of thinking, you cannot achieve any goal at the price of even a single life, let alone that of an entire Eastern Catholic Church. He empathises with and shares the concerns of the Ukrainian people and views the communion that our church has with Peter as a spiritual inheritance not only for us but for the universal church as a whole,” said Patriarch Shevchuk to Radio Vaticana.

In his fresh open letter to Ukrainian Greek Catholics Pope Francis expressed "deep gratitude" for their loyalty with Rome. He also urged them "to alleviate the suffering of the population and to seek the ways of peace for the beloved Ukrainian land".

Francis also encouraged followers in the Ukraine church to continue to be "tireless witnesses of that hope which makes our existence and the existence of all of our brothers and sisters more luminous" and expressed his solidarity with them in these difficult times "marked by the hardships of war, to alleviate the suffering of the population and to seek the ways of peace for the beloved Ukrainian land".

"In the Lord," he concludes, "is our courage and our joy. It is to Him that I speak, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the martyrs of your Church, so that the divine consolation may illuminate your communities in Ukraine and other parts of the world”.