Shevchuk: Statement about Uniates' origin from the Unia is Moscow propaganda

Sviatoslav Shevchuk. Photo: "Zhyve Telebachennia"

On August 17, 2025, the head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, stated during a meeting with the youth at Kyiv’s cathedral that claims about the Uniates emerging as a result of the Union of Brest in 1596 are false and constitute "Moscow propaganda".

"For so many centuries, Moscow propaganda told us that we were never in Kyiv. They told us that we were born, we emerged, do you hear, only in 1596, in the act of the Brest Union, the Uniate Church was formed. But this is not true," assured Shevchuk.

According to him, Greek Catholics "were born 1000 years ago here in Kyiv in the waters of the Dnieper in the Sacrament of Baptism by Saint Prince Volodymyr".

"We as a church, as God's people, we are of Kyiv root," he stated. "Here are our roots, as they say in Cherkasy region, here our umbilical cord is buried when it comes to who we are as a people, as a church."

Shevchuk also stated that the UGCC is "the only Ukrainian Church that unites the global Ukrainian community within its fold".

"Today, far more Ukrainians seek the voice of our Church than those who confessionally call themselves Greek Catholics," emphasized the head of the UGCC.

As reported, earlier Shevchuk stated that the UGCC is the only Church uniting all Ukrainians.

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