NSDC Secretary talks with AUCCRO about foreign advocacy for Ukraine

Meeting of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council with members of the AUCCRO. Photo: IPC

On April 25, the new Secretary of the NSDC, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, and the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky, held a meeting with representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to discuss issues related to religion in Ukraine and abroad, as reported by the Institute for Religious Freedom.

The meeting was attended by heads and authorized representatives of various religious organizations, including the Ukrainian Bible Society, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists, the Ukrainian Church of Evangelical Faith, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Association of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine, and the Institute for Religious Freedom. Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were not present at the meeting.

The parties discussed the importance of continuing the international activities of Churches and religious organizations to advocate for Ukraine to the world. They also emphasized the need to convey truthful information about Russian aggression to international organizations in order to obtain assistance for Ukraine.

Additionally, the meeting positively acknowledged the adoption of the law on chaplaincy and the achievements made possible by its adoption.

Officials noted the importance of the service and status of clergy, as well as the pastoral, humanitarian, and psycho-spiritual activities of denominations during the war with the Russian aggressor.

As reported by the UOJ, in November 2023, authorities sent the AUCCRO delegation to the United States to "counter the wave" there in defense of the UOC.

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