Greek Catholic Cardinal Meets With French Ambassador
Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Church (UGCC), met in Lviv on 10 March 2003 with French Ambassador
to Ukraine Philippe de Suremain, who was on an official visit
from 8 to 10 March 2003.
Ambassador Suremain recalled how he visited Lviv on the inauguration
day of the Ukrainian Catholic University in June 2002 and
spoke about the high educational level of this institution.
In addition, Ambassador Suremain asked the Ukrainian cardinal
about the reasons for the future move of the UGCC administration
to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Cardinal Husar informed the ambassador
of the historical reasons why eastern Ukraine is currently
home to approximately 600,000 Greek Catholics, among which
are expulsion and resettlement of Ukrainians, migration and
prohibition to return home after exile. Today, Kyiv has over
30,000 residents from western Ukraine and all of them need
spiritual care from their church.
During the meeting, the international image of Ukraine was
also discussed. According to Ambassador Suremain, Ukraine's
reputation throughout the world is far from impeccable. Therefore,
he sees his task not only in representing France in Ukraine,
but more importantly, in spreading positive information about
Ukraine in his native land.
Cardinal Husar explained that the reason for Ukraine's negative
image in the world is because "we are still struggling
with the problems that we inherited from the past…Today,
not only do we have to overcome the drawbacks of the past,
but also need to build the future," said Cardinal Husar.
Finally, the Greek Catholic cardinal expressed his opinions
concerning the situation with various religions and jurisdictions
in Ukraine and also the prospect for ecumenical dialogue.
Source: www.ugcc.org.ua
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