Government and AUCCRO discuss ways to “cooperate even more effectively”
The meeting took place at Kyiv’s “Temple of Peace.” Photo: DESS
On May 22, 2025, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Olena Kovalska and Head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Viktor Yelensky met with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) at the “Temple of Peace” in Kyiv.
According to rhe DESS’s press service, the meeting focused on discussing further ways of cooperation between the state and religious organizations.
“This meeting was a continuation of discussions and a specification of the actions mentioned back in April during the meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky,” the statement said. “They discussed how the state and churches could cooperate even more effectively.”
Olena Kovalska and religious leaders also discussed plans for holding a “National Prayer Breakfast.”
Viktor Yelensky gave an update on the implementation of the Cabinet resolution regarding exemption of clergy from military mobilization.
As previously reported by the UOJ, DESS had earlier been unable to say when the exemption process for clergy would begin.
Read also
OCU activist admits breaking into UOC church in Sloviansk
Oleksandr Onyshchenko said that the OCU held its first "service" at the Seraphim Church, which had previously been broken into by forcing the locks and doors.
Archimandrite Ioustinos, longtime keeper of Jacob's Well, dies in Jordan
Archimandrite Ioustinos (Mamallos), the keeper of Jacob's Well in Nablus, has died after a prolonged illness.
Pilgrim group from Kyiv Theological Seminary visits Mount Athos
KTS students are making a pilgrimage to the holy sites of Romania, Greece, Mount Athos and Italy.
UOC cathedral celebrates its patronal feast in Ternopil
The service in the cathedral of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia was led by Metropolitan Serhii of Ternopil, concelebrated by four hierarchs.
MinCulture marks centenary of Soviet-era reserve at Lavra's Refectory Church
Representatives of the Ministry of Culture presented awards to the Reserve's employees on the occasion of the anniversary at the Refectory Church of the Lavra.
Conference to mark 1700th anniversary of Christianity adoption held in Georgia
In Georgia, representatives of the Church and the state noted the defining role of Christianity in the country's cultural development.