On May 10, 2024, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv and All Ukraine took part in a meeting of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy with representatives of the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
His Beatitude was accompanied by Metropolitan Symeon of Vinnytsia and Bar, Metropolitan Dymytriy of Lviv and Sokal, Metropolitan Serhiy of Donetsk and Mariupol, and Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva.
At the beginning of the conversation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated everyone on Easter and thanked them for their prayers and concrete actions to support Ukrainians.
"Every day we live, fight, win and lose. Therefore, I would like to congratulate you on the day that Ukrainians are waiting for and which contains a very warm moment. Unfortunately, there are not many such moments in life. Easter is celebrated in different ways, but it is celebrated at the front, in cities, along the borders," the President noted.
The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine emphasized that the occupier can be defeated only in unity, when everyone works in their place and contributes to the common cause.
"We want a just peace to prevail in Ukraine, but this is possible only when we defeat the enemy. We, as churches, do not only pray. Our sacred duty is to really pray, to spiritually support. But we are also engaged in social service," added His Beatitude.
The participants of the meeting also discussed the specifics of promoting the Ukrainian Peace Formula among representatives of the religious community, expanding the work of chaplains, and methods of combating narratives promoted by Russian propaganda.
Based on the materials of the Official Internet Office of the President of Ukraine and the press service of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC (OCU)
Press service of the Diocese of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC (OCU)
