The head of the UGCC proposed that the Ministry of Culture ensure access to all "national shrines" of Ukraine

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Sviatoslav Shevchuk, has launched an initiative to grant his denomination access to the country’s key historical shrines during a meeting with government representatives. He suggested that the state draw up a list of objects that should not be in the exclusive use of one church structure.

According to the press service of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk met with the Minister of Culture and Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy Tetyana Berezhnaya in Kyiv on March 25, 2026. During the conversation, the Uniate leader voiced a proposal to compile an official list of «national shrines» that are symbols of unity and therefore cannot be in the «exclusive use» of any one denomination. Shevchuk referred to such objects as St. Sophia of Kyiv and other monuments from the times of Kievan Rus.

Although the head of the UGCC stated that his structure does not officially claim ownership of these temples, he explicitly demanded to ensure «equal access to prayer» for his denomination. Shevchuk assigned the role of arbiter who would distribute access to the shrines among different religious groups to the state.

As a symbolic gesture, Sviatoslav Shevchuk handed the culture minister a book about «Soviet agents in Ukraine’s Orthodox episcopate.» In response, Tetyana Berezhnaya assured the head of the UGCC of the readiness of the department to «open dialog» on all the claims voiced. We shall remind you that earlier the leadership of the UGCC described its organization as the second largest religious structure in Ukraine.

We shall remind you that on March 21, 2026, a requiem service for the newly martyred Filaret Denysenko was held in St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral, which was led by the head of the UGCC Sviatoslav Shevchuk. The event united representatives of various church structures within the walls of the main temple of the PCU.