Ambassador Yurash: Epifaniy's meeting with Pope is a continuation of OCU recognition

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the Vatican Andriy Yurash believes that the recent meeting between the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko and Pope Francis is a continuation of the process of recognizing the OCU in the religious world. Yurash is convinced that Pope Francis showed the utmost respect for Epifaniy, which confirmed his positive attitude towards Dumenko and the organization he leads. The Ambassador of Ukraine to the Vatican said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

“It was hard to imagine joint prayer services a few years ago. Today, they are attended not only by representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, but also by representatives of countries with which Ukrainian diplomacy does not always find common ground. The Pope always kisses the panagia of the bishops, which is worn by the hierarchs of the Orthodox churches. The panagia is a distinction of the hierarchy of Orthodox hierarchs of the Eastern tradition. Greek Catholic hierarchs also wear similar insignia. Roman Catholic clergy wear different types of crosses. For the Pope, it is a kind of symbol of testimony and love for the other wing of Christianity, Christianity of the Eastern tradition. And he does it every time,” – said Yurash.

In addition, according to Andriy Yurash, the meeting between Epiphany Dumenko and Pope Francis is a continuation of the process of recognizing the OCU. Yurash argues that the issue of recognition of the OCU by the Roman Catholic Church is not on the agenda, since the Pontiff has actually delegated such powers to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, whose decision the head of the Vatican will automatically agree with.

“We know that today 4 Orthodox churches have full liturgical canonical unity with the Ukrainian Church: The Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Archdiocese of Greece and the Archdiocese of Cyprus. And in this context, the meeting with the Roman Pontiff in the Vatican is a very important continuation of this line of recognition. Recognition not in the classical sense, when we talk about the Orthodox churches, but recognition of the spiritual force with which the churches of the West cannot but communicate. At the same time, one cannot help but realize that the dialogue that the Western Catholic Church has with the churches of the Eastern tradition is very important. And de facto, it is a kind of form of diplomatic and mediative recognition and support for these churches, if not canonical. And now, after this meeting that took place between Metropolitan Epifaniy and the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, we can talk about the achievement of a very important new stage in the sense of the deployment of the external geo-church strategy of local Ukrainian Orthodoxy. In the sense of achieving a very important new line of unity, mutual understanding and interaction with world Christianity,” – the ambassador added.

As reported, on December 13, 2024, the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko visited the Vatican, where he met with Pope Francis. In addition, on December 16, 2024, the delegation of the OCU, led by Epiphany Dumenko, held religious events at the Basilica of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari (Italy), where the imperishable relics of the saint are located. At the entrance to the church, Dumenko was met by the mayor of Bari, Vito Leccese, and the rector of the basilica, Giovanni Distante.