The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in no way claims the property that is in the hands of the “Orthodox brothers”. This was stated by the Primate of the UGCC Svyatoslav Shevchuk on January 19, 2023 in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda.
“Our church in the Russian Empire was liquidated back in 1839. And all our property was given to the Orthodox. If we started demanding the return of all that property to us today, we would start another wave of religious war,” he stressed.
According to the head of the Greek Catholics, “there are national symbols that also appeal to minds and hearts. And such a symbol is Hagia Sophia of Kyiv, which is the mother’s temple for all of us. This temple cannot be claimed by any one denomination, because there are common roots here.”
“God willing, one day we will all be one. That is, all those divisions that exist today between the Orthodox world and the Catholic world, I hope that they will be overcome step by step. And then it will be a common temple for all the heirs of the Kievan church. Therefore, we do not claim property, but we say: “Okay, this also has to do with our history, with our identity. We also want to feel at home there,” said Svyatoslav Shevchuk.
“We are also talking about the Pochaev Lavra. We do not want to present any property claims to anyone today. But we say that this is a historically great spiritual center of our church… Therefore, those who will decide who will be given access to pray should take into account that the Pochaev Lavra has a historical relationship to our church,” the head of the UGCC stressed.
According to him, the UGCC has not yet taken any steps to gain access to the Pochaev Lavra, because it has not heard about any specific steps to change the status of this holy place.
“It is one thing to have property claims, and another thing is the right to pray where our ancestors prayed. We do not question the ownership of the state, but we want to have access to this shrine. We also try to develop our own, and not wait for something to be handed over to us,” summed up Svyatoslav Shevchuk.
