![](\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Bishops_and_Cardinals_7_walking_out_of_the_Paul_VI_Hall_during_the_Synod_of_Bishops_on_Oct_9_2015_Credit_Daniel_Ibanez_CNA_10_9_15_Shevchuk.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rome, Italy, Feb 24, 2016 \/ 06:01 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- What\u2019s next for ecumenism? After the recent meeting between Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has emphasized that \u201cthe first thing is to free religion from politics.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u201cWe must not fix our attention on one only point. We must think what to do after. The first thing is to free religion from politics. We cannot reconcile with geopolitics, but we can reconcile with our brothers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Archbishop Shevchuk is Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church and a member of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. The dicastery was directly involved in drafting the joint declaration. However, Archbishop Shevchuk was not involved in the drafting process, nor was he asked for recommendations. Archbishop Shevchuk became close to Pope Francis when both were in Argentina. He served as a bishop in the Ukrainian Eparchy of Santa Maria del Patrocinio in Buenos Aires from 2009-2011, while Bergoglio served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n The Pope recalled their friendship during his inflight press conference Feb. 18. St. John Paul II used to say that Europe had to breathe with two lungs, a saying cited by the archbishop. But on the other hand, the joint declaration referred to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church as among the \u201cecclesial communities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe ecumenical vocabulary of the Catholic Church uses the phrase \u2018ecclesial communities\u2019 to refer to Protestant Churches, that is to label those communities which do not bear all the richness of the apostolic tradition,\u201d explained Archbishop Shevchuk. \u201cNow it is time to commit ourselves so that the ecumenical path will lead to a full and visible unity of the Church of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe cannot reconcile with geopolitics, but we can reconcile with our brothers,\u201d Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych told CNA Feb. 23.
\n\u00a0
\nHe reflected on the joint declaration<\/a> signed by Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in Havana Feb. 12. The Pope and the Patriarch stressed that \u201cit is our hope that our meeting may also contribute to reconciliation wherever tensions exist between Greek Catholics and Orthodox.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\nArchbishop Shevchuk said the declaration has many positive points, while also emphasizing some critical points of the declaration. He considered it too imbalanced toward the Russian Orthodox positions, and in general excessively politically oriented.
\n\u00a0
\nThe archbishop had also voiced his criticism in a Feb. 14 interview<\/a> on the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church\u2019s web site.
\n\u00a0
\nSpeaking to CNA, Archbishop Shevchuk maintained that \u201cthe meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis was very important, according to my mind and to what I heard from the Ukrainian population.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cI agree to call that meeting historical, as we need to meet in order to discuss and to carry forward our path to unity,\u201d the archbishop said.
\n\u00a0
\nHowever, he underscored that \u201cthe meeting in Havana is just the beginning of the path.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\nThe archbishop said that for him, \u201cit was important that the voice of the local Church was heard, since it was called up in the declaration.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cThere are two points of view: that of the universal Church, and that of the local Church, that might see the same problems, but from a different point of view. For this reason, to us, to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, it was important to listen to the Holy Father and at the same time to be listened to by the Holy Father,\u201d the archbishop said.<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\nArchbishop Shevchuk said he was \u201cmoved by the paternal, sincere Holy Father\u2019s words\u201d toward him. He said that Pope\u2019s trust and frankness with his friends is one of his strong characteristics. This is the reason why he feels \u201cfree to be frank, sincere and transparent\u201d when speaking with the Pope.
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cI want to be the spokesperson of the sentiments, pains and even doubts of the Ukrainian people. I want to be the mediator between simple-minded believers and the Holy Father,\u201d the archbishop said.
\n\u00a0
\nArchbishop Shevchuk will meet with the Pope March 5, at the end of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.
\n\u00a0
\nHe described the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church as composed of two realms. On one side, it shares \u201cthe same liturgy, theology and also some history with Orthodox Churches, especially with the Patriarchate of Moscow.\u201d On the other, it is in full communion with the successor of Peter.
\n\u00a0
\nBecause of this identity \u201cwe have always been stigmatized by the Orthodox. But being in Communion with the Holy Father is pivotal to us.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\nAccording to Archbishop Shevchuk, \u201cit is natural that nowadays being Catholic means being ecumenical,\u201d and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church thus has a mission to promote Christian unity.<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cThe fact that there are so many Eastern Churches in the Catholic Church is a richness. And we, as an Eastern Church, are called to share this richness, as our particularity makes us prepared, and encouraged, to undertake a sincere, true and authentic dialogue with the Orthodox Churches,\u201d Archbishop Shevchuk said.
\n\u00a0
\nHe stressed that \u201cbeing united in faith does not mean being subdued to someone else.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cThe Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church can testify that communion with the Successor of Peter does not take anything out of the richness of the Eastern tradition,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt is the contrary! It helps this tradition to grow. It brings this tradition out of provincialism, out of strict nationalism. It opens to the universal horizons of the Church of Christ.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\nThe Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has lived through difficult situations. Although it is fully recognized as a self-governing Eastern Catholic Church, the Orthodox did not acknowledge its right to exist.
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cOrthodoxy must acknowledge our right to exist,\u201d Archbishop Shevchuk said.
\n\u00a0
\nHe noticed that \u201cThe joint declaration by Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in the end makes this acknowledgement, and this is positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\nHe added that this is why \u201cprofessors of ecclesiology, but also common people, raised concerns and doubts about the use of this expression referred to the Greek Catholic Community.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cIn the end, we are not called to ask anyone permission for our right to exist,\u201d the Major Archbishop emphasized.
\n\u00a0
\nHe said the meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow is \u201ca starting point, and not the end of a path.\u201d<\/p>\n