“Constructive dialogue, cooperation and cohabitation in an alliance to defend the Christian values”. Yesterday, as reported by the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, in his first press conference, mgr. Sviatoslav Schevchuk, appointed on March 23rd Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych and primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, listed the lines that will have to inspire the relations, in Ukraine, between the Greek-Catholic Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of the Patriarchate of Moscow and the Patriarchate of Kyiv, and the Autocephalous Orthodox Church. “This is not a takeover – he pointed out –, this is about implementing a policy” in the attempt “to establish a constructive dialogue and cooperation”. Mentioning an international conference with the Prefect of the Papal Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians, card. Kurt Koch, and with the Metropolitan Bishop, Ilarion Alfeiev, which he attended just before the electoral Synod, mgr. Shevchuk recalled that on that occasion they found there was a “need for a strategic alliance between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church”, “not in military terms”, but as a “union to join forces in defence of the Christian values”. Quoting Ilarion, the primate concluded: “In Europe, we must not fight Islam, we must fight for the strength of Christianity”, for “human life”, and for “the true evangelical values against a distorted view of the Christian religion”.

© www.agensir.it - 4 aprile 2011